Keys Of Destiny
by DragonsAreFriends1
Summary: This is something new!
1. Chapter 1: Thorns and News

Keys Of Destiny

Chapter one: Thorns and News

"Oow!" Sora yelped as he had yet another thorn pulled out of his back.

"Hold still, honey, I've almost got them all out..." Aerith whispered. It made it very difficult to take all the thorns out of Sora's back while he was squirming around on her lap.

"Yeah, but it hurts, Mom!" Sora replied.

"My brother...the idiot..." Roxas sighed to himself whom was standing not too far away watching his brother who had at least seven thorns taken out of his back already.

"I heard that, Roxas!" Sora snapped. "Ooow!"

"Sorry, Sora. That one was in deep." Aerith said.

"Will he be alright?" Cloud asked.

"Yes dear, as long as he does not fall into any more thorn bushes." Aerith smiled.

"So...do I even want to know what you to were doing? Or trying to do?" Cloud asked to either of the twins.

"Well we were playing with our friend Kairi and Sora lost his footing and fell backwards into the thorns." Roxas replied then nudged Sora's arm with his elbow. "And it serves ya right, you klutz!" Sora made a face.

"Regardless, you three should be more careful. There are many Heartless lurking about in the world. You guys should not go too far down the island."

"But there was no Heartless out there today." Sora said. "And I'm sure we could take them, even if there was--OOW!!"

"There, that's the last one." Aerith said trying to keep a straight face letting Sora hop down off of her lap.

"Look, I know you boys are strong. Heck probably stronger with all those times the two of you spent playing with your wooden swords as kids, but still a fake sword is still a fake. You can't fight the Heartless without a REAL sword, now can you?" Cloud asked crossing his arms.

"Hey, in that case let us use yours dad." Roxas said. "We're ready to fight them just like you and mom."

"No." Cloud kneeled down so he was eye level with the two fifteen-year-old boys. Ruffling the top of their heads smiling softly, he added: "I can't lose you both. None of you. I'll tell you when you're ready to fight them, but not now. You're still too young."

The two twins flinched at being called 'young'.

"And besides." Aerith added. "You two could not wield your father's sword. It weighs a ton." There was a sudden knock on the front door. Roxas went up to answer it. He opened the door and Kairi stepped inside.

"How you doing, Sora?" She asked worriedly.

"Never better." Sora said rubbing his sore back.

"Kairi, I already told you he'd be okay when you and Roxas brought him home. Why'd you come back? Is something wrong?" Aerith asked.

"Well, kinda..." she mumbled. "The attacks on the south part island are getting worse. I just read on the news that a lot of people are planning on leaving Destiny Islands cause of all the relentless Heartless attacks."

"And where do they expect to go?" Cloud grumbled. "Heartless are EVERYWHERE. No matter what town or village you live in the attack numbers will always be the same. As long as darkness stays within a person's heart, Heartless will always be around. You can't just expect to move and think you can get away with that..."

"Yes, I know, Mr. Strife." Kairi said sadly. She looked over to Sora and Roxas, her frown deepening. "And... My parents said were gonna be the ones moving somewhere else too..."

"Moving?!" Roxas and Sora said at once.

Kairi nodded.

"You can't just move!" Sora cried. "You're our best friend!" Come to think of it she was their only friend so far.

"And believe me, I don't want to go. Not without you guys." Kairi said. "As far as I know were moving to a place called Twilight Town."

'Twilight Town?' Aerith thought to herself then looked up at Cloud who seemed to know what she was thinking too.

"Aerith, I don't know..." Cloud spoke up.

"Why not?" Aerith challenged. "The kids could make a ton more friends, get better schooling then they could here, AND if I remember correctly your brother Leon lives down there too. He has not been able to come down here as often because of the cost of money. And I'm sure Sora and Roxas would like to see him. He is their uncle after all." Aerith crossed her arms and gave Cloud a hard stare. "Moving away from the islands ourselves might be just what ALL of us need right now."

Cloud sighed.

"Dad…?" Sora and Roxas looked up at their father.

"All right, I suppose we can move to Twilight Town. It'll be the first thing we do tomorrow though." Cloud said rather sourly. Sora, Roxas, and Kairi jumped up and down happily. "But we have a lot of packing and what not to get through tomorrow, so Kairi you should get home. And Sora? Roxas? Bed. Now.

The kids sighed. "Yes, sir..."

Later that night in their bedroom when Cloud and Aerith were sure Sora and Roxas were asleep.

"Aerith, I moved us here before the kids were born to protect them." Cloud grumbled, pacing back and forth in front of the foot of their bed. Aerith sat on the side of the bed silently watching Cloud. "Moving now might give our position away to you-know-who. If 'he' found the kids, or you again, I'd never forgive myself. It's my battle. It's my fault."

"Cloud..." Aerith walked over and layed a comforting hand on Cloud's shoulder. "We're family...and moving where there are more people will help. There is strength in numbers. And you can't just keep fighting this battle by yourself."

Cloud pulled Aerith into a hug. "I still don't know, honey."

"It'll be okay." Aerith hushed him. When the two of them let go Aerith had a small smile on her face. "Now come on to bed. We have got a lot of packing to do tomorrow. You know how hyper Sora and Roxas get on a big day, you don't want to be grumpy all day, do you?"

"When you put it like that, I suppose not."

When the two got into bed Cloud only needed a few minutes and then he was out. Aerith sat up in bed to keep herself from falling asleep right away. She silently stared out her bedside window. She found a brighter star than all the others shining up towards the north. She looked at it for the longest time then began to make a wish.

"Please..."She whispered to it. "Help find away to protect everyone. And help protect our children."

With all said and done, Aerith layed down next to Cloud and fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2: Moving

Chapter Two: Moving

Sora and Roxas woke up right on time to begin the packing. Their house was small and they did not have that much stuff to pack, so they were done in no time at all. Once done they began to notice one of the family members was missing.

"Where's mom?" Sora asked Cloud.

"She went out to the small island about a hour ago." Cloud replied, lifting a heavy box out of his and Aerith's room. "You know, the one with the Poupu tree."

"Why there?" Roxas asked Sora.

Sora shrugged. "Let's go see her, and find out."

Sora and Roxas made their way to the small island by going across the small wooded-walkway. Once there, they found Aerith climbing the Poupu Tree gathering the yellow star shaped fruit, and putting it down into a basket next to the tree below.

"What are you collecting the Poupu Fruit for, mom?" Roxas asked.

"Well..." Aerith said, head still in the green brush of the tree. "We might not see this island for a while. And I mean a LONG while, so I thought we'd bring some of the island legend with us." She took her head out of the brush of the tree for a second and looked down at Sora and Roxas. "You two do remember the legend of the Poupu Fruit, don't you?" She asked with a smile.

"O-of course we do." Sora stuttered.

"When a person shares the Poupu Fruit with someone they really care about, it binds them together forever and ever." Roxas explained.

Aerith nodded. "That's right. The one person you want to be with the rest of your life. The one you truly love. To stick with them through the good times and the bad. I know you'll find that person for you guys someday too. Just like I did and still do with your father." She turned her attention back to the tree, and continued to finish her task at collecting the fruit. "That's why I'm bringing the Poupu fruit with us. So that someday when you do find the right girl..."

"T-that's not gonna happen!" Sora and Roxas said at once, faces turning red.

Aerith giggled. "You say that now, but just you wait. It'll happen. I can promise you that."

Once finished, Aerith slid down off the tree, picked up her basket, and started to walk down the wooded walkway. "You two can walk around the island for a bit if you want, but be at the harbor in a hour so we can leave, okay?" She asked gently.

"Okay, no problem." Sora and Roxas replied, both putting their hands behind their heads as they watched their mother walk away.

After standing there for about five minutes, Roxas groaned. "Ah, there's nothing to say goodbye too out here...to boring anyway."

"You'll miss it, and you know it." Sora corrected.

"Well, anyway I'm going to go see if dad needs help putting things onto the boat that's taking us outta here." Roxas spoke up, walking ahead of Sora. "You can say goodbye to the island--" Roxas felt something small under his foot, but he noticed it a little too late and fell belly first into the dirt.

"R-Roxas!" Sora gasped going to his brother's aid. "You okay?" He asked attempting to help him up but Roxas pushed him away.

"Aggh, I'm fine! I just tripped over something..." Roxas replied roughly, looking over at what he tripped on. "Hmm...? What's this?" Roxas picked up what looked like a small black shaped crown. "This was not here before..." Roxas stood up. "Wonder what it is."

Sora laughed. "Wow, Roxas! You tripped over that? Now that's funny!"

"Shut up!" Roxas put the black crown in his pocket. "I'm outta here. Don't wander to far okay, Sora? You don't want mom and dad to worry." Roxas walked off leaving Sora (who was still smirking) by himself.

Sora walked around the sandy shores of the island taking one last look around before the time was up. He yawned slightly. Roxas might have been right, why say goodbye to such a small island? Sora turned to head for the harbor; it was almost time to leave anyway.

Suddenly something caught Sora's eyes. Something shiny was lying on the shoreline of the beach, a short distance ahead.

Sora walked over to it. Whatever it was must have been washed up on shore and not too long ago by the look of it. Brushing off the sand he discovered a Thalassa shell in the shape of a star. "Weird..." Sora put a hand to his chin, while holding the shell in the other hand. "Thalassa shells are not supposed to look like this..." But Sora had to admit it looked pretty cool. He stood up and put it in his pocket. "This could be a good luck charm to remind me of the island. Wait till I show everyon--"

The sound of a horn blowing all the way down to the harbor could be heard. The boat was about ready to leave.

"Aak! T-the boat!" Sora yelped, making a mad dash for the harbor. "Oh, this is great! Of all the luck!"

"He's late." Aerith said, getting worried.

"Oh boy, I told him not to wander too far." Roxas said crossing his arms.

"I'll go look for him." Cloud said. As he started to get off the boat Sora came charging up the steps to the boat slamming head on into Cloud's chest. Cloud fell backwards onto the floor taking Sora with him. "Found him."

"Am I late?" Sora grinned, rubbing his head.

"What do you think?"

As the boat set sail, Destiny Islands started to get farther and farther away, until it was eventually swallowed up by the ocean. Sora sat at the end of the boat, head over the railing, making a moaning sound.

"He must be taking leaving the island pretty hard, huh?" Kairi asked, as her and Roxas stood close by.

"Nah, he got over that before we left." Roxas said. "He's just getting sea sick that's all. He does not like being on a boat."

"I'm gonna die..." Sora moaned going on his knees. Roxas and Kairi came up beside Sora.

"Sora we have not been out here for very long." Roxas said. "And we still have a long ways to go. Don't be such a baby."

"You're gonna be fine, silly." Kairi smiled. "Just try not to think about the rocking of the boat. Or the splashiest of the waves. Or eating anything, and... Do you want to hear all of this?" Kairi looked down at Sora's face. It had turned a very pale shade of green.

"I think I'm gonna throw up now...." Sora said weakly, face puffing up.

Roxas and Kairi stood back quickly.

"My bad..." she laughed.

Meanwhile at the front of the boat.

"So this is it, huh?" Cloud asked, holding onto Aerith's hand. Aerith could sense Cloud's worry. She gently laid her head on Cloud's shoulder.

"Don't worry." She replied. "Just remember...you're not alone anymore, honey..." Cloud stayed silent and stared out into the waves.


	3. Chapter 3: Oathkeeper

Chapter Three: Oathkeeper

After a day and a half of sailing the boat finally reached its mark: Twilight Town. Everyone but Cloud was in a good mood; Sora was in the best mood of all. He finally got to get off this boat! No more seasickness for him. As the boat pulled into Twilight's harbor, Cloud noticed a very familiar face waiting for them at the docks.

"Kids, look who it is." Cloud said to the trio Sora, Roxas, and Kairi. Everyone went to the side of the boat and waved, spotting their uncle waving back at them, a half smile on his face. "Long time no see, brother." Cloud called down.

"Like wise." Leon replied.

As soon as the steps opened up, granting their exit, Sora and Roxas rushed down to greet their long missed uncle and pulled him into a hug.

"We sure missed you Uncle Leon!" Roxas smiled.

"How've you been Uncle?" Sora asked.

Leon could feel a blood pulse popping up on his forehead. "Kids..." Leon's voice grew dark. "For the last time, just call me Leon. NOT uncle. Just Leon...You know being called uncle just makes me feel old."

"But you are their uncle, you know?" Aerith laughed. "You can't change facts."

"I know..." Leon sighed.

"And you are 'old'. " Cloud joked.

"Drop it, Cloud." Leon snapped.

Kairi left with her parents to help move their stuff into their new house, as did Sora and Roxas with their family. It was a lovely town; many kids Sora and Roxas's age were out and about playing around up and down the brick path the town provided. This made them even more eager to walk about the town.

"How pretty. And it's a nice sunset out today too." Aerith said, looking up at the clouds mixing in with the orange, red and yellow colors of the sky.

"Can we go explore around town for awhile?" Sora asked.

"No. It's getting late." Cloud said firmly. "Besides that, you two have got to get ready for your first day of high school tomorrow."

"But..." Sora hung his head. He SO wanted to go look around. Then he got an idea. When he lifted his head back up he looked at everybody with a wide smirk. "Okay dad. No walking around this evening."

"Oh, no." Roxas mumbled. He knew that look on Sora's face all too well. He was up to something; he'd better keep an eye on him tonight.

By the time everyone had gotten to their new house within the town and unpacked everything, it was around 10:47p.m.

"Time for bed you two." Aerith said, looking up at the clock on the wall.

"Y...yeah oh...kay, Mom." Sora yawned, pretending to be tired as he quietly headed up the stairs.

"Faker..." Roxas whispered to himself heading up the stairs after Sora.

"Roxas!" Leon called from the door. Roxas turned around and looked up. "You take care of each other now, okay? And I'll see you guys later."

"Okay." Roxas agreed.

Leon nodded and waved goodbye to his brother Cloud who was sitting on the couch next to Aerith. Cloud returned the wave but said nothing, only slightly smiled. Leon lived not too far away in some nearby apartments. At least keeping in touch would not be a problem anymore. Still Cloud felt uneasy about something else that was on his mind.

Leon left shutting the door behind him. Roxas slowly went upstairs, wondering what his dad seemed so upset about. Thinking so hard in fact, he had forgotten about Sora! Once it dawned on him he made a mad dash for their room.

"Sora!" Roxas hissed, spotting his brother trying to climb out through the bedroom door. Sora froze as he had only gotten one foot hanging out the window, he turned and looked at Roxas grinning sheepishly. "Sora, get in here and close that door." Roxas ordered.

Sora shrugged. "Hey I promised I would not go walking around this evening. I did not say I would not go walking around tonight."

Roxas crossed his arms and glared. "Walking around a NEW town, with NO clue where you're going, with Heartless LURKING about everywhere, and NO weapon of your own, and you think I'm gonna let you do that?"

"You sound like Mom and Dad."

"No, I'm being realistic, you klutz."

Sora made a face. Of course this only urged him to leave the house and go walk about even more. As Sora started to make a break for the window Roxas ran up and grabbed his jacket hood.

"Oh, no you don't! Get back in here!" Roxas pulled Sora's hood that started to rip, and pulling on it only made it rip the longer he tried to keep Sora back. He kept pulling and pulling till finally...

SNAP!

The force sent Sora out the window and onto a random roof across from them. Roxas on the other hand shot backwards onto the floor, the remains of the hood going with him. Sora took his chance and headed out, climbing carefully down a pipe and making a break for it. Meanwhile Roxas was still on the floor grasping Sora's hood completely angry.

"He's got a death wish. And it's NOT gonna be from the Heartless."

Sora made his way down the street which was VERY quiet. No children were out at this point, or adults for that matter. And it was far too dark to look around as good as day. Duh. Sora began to realize this and made his way back home. He hated to admit it but Roxas was right. For once.

Suddenly Sora noticed he was no longer alone. Something was headed his way. 'Its just Roxas.' Sora thought to himself. 'Just Roxas coming to throw a fit and drag me home.'

But after a bit more than one sound of footsteps could be heard, and a awful hissing sound soon to follow.

"O-kay. That's not Roxas." Sora put up his fists. (As if that's gonna help) "Who's there?!" Though it was a demanding tone, his fear was nonetheless well heard.

The hissing grew louder, and at this point it was coming from all directions. The sounds of loose metal rubbing up together was also heard, most likely Soldier Heartless.

"Great. Me and my ideas!" Sora turned in circles trying to pinpoint where they were going strike first. As the sound drew closer Sora's body tightened, but all of a sudden the noise stopped all together. "What the..." Sora lowered his fists.

"Hissssss!" From up above a Soldier Heartless dropped on his back and started taking mad swings at Sora's head. Sora yelled and threw the Heartless back falling down in shock. As he staggered back to his feet he was soon surrounded by a least ten more.

All heart-thirsty. All for him. They attacked Sora from all sides. Sora kick and tried to fight, but bear-handed was not easy, and he just ended up getting knocked back down to the ground.

Sora stood but he was at his limit. What more could he do?

"If I make it though this..." He muttered. Suddenly there was a glow in his pocket. He took it out is discover his lucky charm glowing. The glow was so strong Sora had to shut his eyes. He could hear a voice echoing through his head.

//Oathkeeper. The Keyblade Of Hope.//

Sora opened his eyes. His hands no longer held the shell charm. Instead, they held a white and bluish sword: The Keyblade Oathkeeper.

The Soldier Heartless continued to corner Sora.

Sora just smiled and gripped the Keyblade. He knew what to do. As he got into a fighting position, he challenged the Heartless by swinging his Keyblade. "Come and get me!" he yelled, charging for the Heartless.


	4. Chapter 4: A Brawl and Some Friends

Chapter Four: A Brawl and Some Friends

Sora lashed out at the Heartless one by one. For each one he killed a few more showed up. But due to all of that practice he had with Roxas back on the islands, a few more would not matter. He easily destroyed every single one of them without breaking a sweat. "Where could this have come from?" he wondered.

He looked towards the end of the Keyblade, and spotted his lucky shell charm tied to the end of it. "This is different" Another Heartless appeared. Only this one was a Nightwalker. It grabbed Sora around the waist and lifted him up off the ground then began crushing him with all its might to try to weaken Sora.

"N-no!" Sora gasped. When he managed to free one of his arms he swung his Keyblade into the Nightwalker's head. It made an awful screeching noise and let go. Not taking any chances Sora jumped up before the Nightwalker had a chance to grab him again, and sliced it in half with Oathkeeper, killing it instantly.

Sora huffed and sat down on the ground feeling around his sore ribs checking the damage. Nothing, just a little bit of bruising. He'd live.

Soon Sora's keyblade transformed back into just the lucky shell before his eyes. "Wow, maybe this thing is more lucky than I thought." he laughed.

Something yet again grabbed hold of Sora tightly. Sora went to scream but the attacker put a hand over his mouth. He started to kick with all his might in hopes to get free. Eventually the attacker hissed in his ear: "You Klutz! Knock it off! It's me!"

Sora's struggle stopped as he looked up staring into the face of Roxas. Roxas sighed letting him go.

"Idiot!" He said giving Sora a simple pop on the head, in which Sora did not seem to mind. Too happy to be alive to care. "Are you alright? Did you get attacked by Heartless?" Sora stared blankly at Roxas.

Just peachy. Roxas missed all the action.

"I'm fine." Sora replied. "Lets just go home, okay?"

Roxas nodded and the two headed for home. If Roxas was not such an understanding brother at times, Roxas might have told Cloud and Aerith what had happened. But he did not have it in him to rat out his brother.

This time at least.

When they got home they went right to bed. They had no problems getting into the house with their parents fast asleep. Sora and Roxas slept in the same bedroom, but had two separate beds. Roxas stared at Sora who was getting into a comfortable position.

"We have school tomorrow." Roxas reminded him. "Let's hope you'll be able to wake up on time."

"Yeah. I will." Sora looked over at Roxas with a small frown. "Sorry."

Roxas had a friendly look on his face, or maybe it was just the moonlight shining between them. "Was it worth wandering out at night to see the town?" he asked simply, still smiling gently.

"A little." Sora whispered, lying down to go to sleep.

Roxas frowned. Not the answer he wanted to hear. "Go figure..." Roxas layed down himself and went to sleep.

Sora began to wonder if he should tell anyone about what had happened, or about the Keyblade. In the end he voted not to. Not yet anyway.

"Sora, Roxas! Breakfast is ready!" Aerith called from downstairs the next morning.

Groggy and tired the two twins made their way down to the dinner table, sitting heavily on the chairs.

"Sleep well?" Aerith asked, still as cheerful as ever.

"Uh, humm." The twins responded.

"Looks like you two had a party last night." Cloud said, taking a sip of coffee.

Sora and Roxas gulped.

"Don't be silly, dear." Aerith laughed. "I passed by their room last night. They did not make a peep."

"Yeah, w-we were good!" Sora spoke up.

'We?' Roxas muttered to himself.

After breakfast the twins headed off to the their first day of school. However, they had to go though the Sandlot in order to get to the school. Normally this is not a problem, but cause they were new....

"Hey, look Seifer! Fresh meat!" A boy named Rai called out pointing over at Roxas and Sora.

"Well, well...What have we got here?" Seifer smiled evilly. "What are you punks doing here in our turf?"

"What's your problem?!" Roxas snapped. "And we are not punks. Which is more than I can say about you."

"Sooo...You think you're tough, huh?" Seifer walked closer to them.

"Back off. We did nothing to you." Sora said, stepping up beside his brother. "Besides, don't make us beat you up."

Roxas poked Sora harshly in the ribs, which made Sora flinch at the touch. "Over doing it!" Roxas hissed.

"I'm gonna make you eat those words." Seifer said as he and Rai made a tackle for Sora and Roxas. Before they knew it a big brawl had started. A group kids from the high school circled around to watch the fight.

One kid, chubby with black hair sticking up and a red T-shirt that read 'Dog Street' on it, frowned looking over. "Oh dear." He said.

Another boy with blonde hair and sandy eyes was next to him, though he walked closer to them than the other kids. "Seifer, Quit it!" He yelled in attempt to stop the fighting.

"You have gone too far!" A girl with brown hair and green eyes, who was next to the chubby boy, called out.

"You Twilight losers shut up!" Seifer grunted as he put Roxas into a headlock. Sora on the other hand was busy pulling on Rai's hair, which at this point was pined to the ground.

"That's it!" The blonde haired boy yelled jumping into the dog pile. He made his way to Roxas and punched Seifer in the face to get the guy to let go of Roxas. Seifer let go and jumped back, while Roxas took a deep breath.

"Thanks." he said to the boy, exhausted.

"No prob. This guy's an idiot. Oh by the way, the name's Hayner. And those two are Olette and Pence." He said pointing to the two behind him.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Roxas and this is my brother--" he had forgotten Sora was still fighting. "Sora!!" he cried.

SMASH!

Seifer and Rai both suddenly got knocked to the ground by someone even bigger.

"Morons..." A silver haired boy with ocean blue eyes huffed.

"Son of a..." Seifer growled rubbing his sore chin. They quickly got up and walked off. "Looks like luck is on your side, punks. I'll be back for you."

"Yeah, we'll be back, ya know!" Rai shouted out.

"Shut up, Rai!" Seifer snapped.

Sora sat there on the ground half stunned. "Hey, you gonna make it?" The silver-haired boy asked extending his hand for Sora to get back on his feet. Sora laughed finding the question will he 'make it' funny and grabbed hold. The boy easily lifted him from the ground, and by the looks of it the boy looked to be at least a year older than Roxas and him.

"Yep I can handle almost anything." Sora joked. "A few more seconds and those guys would have been toast!"

"Well then, nice to meet you too." The silver haired boy laughed. "I'm Riku. And you are...?"

"I'm Sora. And...Thanks for the help. I owe you one."

"Nah, don't mention it." Riku said.

"So, when did you two get here?" Olette asked. "Don't remember seeing you around before."

"We just moved here with our friend Kairi. We were just on our way to school when--"

RINNNG!

"Oh, no! School!"

"We'd better hurry!" Pence said.

"Come on all of you." Hayner called running ahead. "I know a short cut!"

Riku ran up beside Sora as they all made there way to school. "Hey if you want, today after school I could show you around Twilight Town. You know, like a tour."

"Sounds fun! Thanks Riku."

Riku smiled. This was the beginning of a good friendship, he could tell.


	5. Chapter 5: Twilight High

Chapter Five: Twilight High

Hayner and the group headed down a side street. The shortest way to get to school, in the shortest amount of time.

"This way." Hayner whispered as they slowly walked to the back of the school doors. "We hafta be extra quiet. Principal Xenmas will have our heads if he finds out we are late."

And they really WERE late too.

"Xenmas?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah!" Hayner snorted. "He's such a pain too!" Someone silently walked up behind Hayner. The young blond had no clue someone was there, though everyone else did.

"H-Hayner!" Olette gasped.

"What?" Hayner laughed. "Its true! I mean you should hear what ALL the other kids in school are calling him here! His nickname is so funny!" Hayner doubled over laughing while everyone else looked wide-eyed at a tall white haired man standing just behind the chuckling blond.

"Hayner!" Pence hissed.

"I mean think about it..." Hayner continued. "Hearing HIS nickname might get you wondering what the guy really does in his 'Personal Life'! Heh, heh, heh--"

"Oh really? And just what do the other kids call me?"

Hayner froze, a dumb grin still on his face.

"Oh boy..." Riku grumbled.

Normally Xenmas would have given all the kids, (Hayner mostly) detention, but cause it was the first day of school he decided to let them all off with warnings.

While they were walking Sora got separated from his brother amongst all the chaos. Their new friends were gone as well. He sighed walking to his first class.

As he arrived at his first classroom he groaned. Science. Even though he enjoyed going to a new school, there was one class he disliked. Science. He was happy though when he arrived, he had ran into yet another familiar face.

"Hey, Sora!" Kairi called.

"Hey, Kairi." Sora replied, approaching in his normal care-free style.

"You were late coming to class." Kairi said worried. "Any troubles?"

"Nope. Not at all! So...um...You got Science class right now too?" Sora added quickly, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, let's head in shall we?"

"Sounds good." Sora followed quickly behind Kairi not wanting to be late again today.

"Good morning, class. I'm your Science teacher Mr. Vexen." A long blond haired teacher with nice glasses and in a white science outfit said as he walked into the room and to the black board. "Of course, you are free to call me just Vexen if you want. NOT Vex or Vexy! If I hear anyone call me that again I'll--"He started to raise his voice in anger, crushing a piece of chalk in his hands.

He stopped looking at the class who at this point looked a little freaked out at him.

Vexen cleared his throat sheepishly. "Anyway...let's begin our lesson by reading chapter one in our--"

A tall kid with a blond Mohawk-like hair raised his hand before Vexen could finish.

"Yes?" Vexen raised a brow looking at him.

"Ah...do we have to begin our studies right away, Teach?" the boy pouted. "I was thinking why don't we get to know one another by saying all of our names and stuff."

Kairi made a small giggle smiling at the young male.

"Demyx, this is not first grade." A short blue haired student said quietly reading his Science book sitting a desk apart from Sora's desk.

"But, Zexy!" The one called Demyx cried.

"Call me that again Demyx and I swear I'll--"

"Okay that's enough!" Vexen snapped.

"Heh, Zexy...." Sora laughed. "That sounds a awful lot like s--"

"You can shut up too, new kid." Zexion growled. "Unless you want me to get REALLY angry."

"The name's Sora!" Sora fumed.

"Whatever..."

"I SAID ENOUGH!!" Vexen yelled. "Now just QUIETLY read chapter one and then we'll do a little quiz so I know you read it..."

"Aaaww." The whole class sighed sadly.

"DONT 'AAAWW' ME!" Vexen said slamming the end of his own science book onto his desk.

The class continued to work quietly after that. At one point Sora looked over at Zexion still mad. 'Who does he think he is? Calling me kid! I'll show him!'

Zexion caught Sora's glance through his one eye not covered by hair. "May I help you?" he asked coldly.

"What's your problem?" Sora asked quietly to not alert Vexen.

Zexion took a piece of paper, wrote on it, and slipped it to Sora then continued his work.

Sora took the paper and read it: "YOU." It said simply.

"What?!" Sora hissed.

"Don't tell me you can read either..." Zexion sigh. "I truly pity you."

"Why I outta--"

"Hey you two!" Vexen glared over at Zexion and Sora, "That's enough from both of you!" 'Why am I here again?' He thought to himself. 'WHY?!'

After first class Sora headed off to P.E., while Kairi headed off to band class with Demyx.

At the doors to P.E. Sora ran into Riku.

"Hey, there you are, Sora." Riku greeted. "How was class?"

"Fine." Sora replied not wanting to say how it really went."

"Good let's get into the P.E. room before--" Riku opened the door to find a taller gentleman standing in the door way. The P.E. teacher Lexeaus, very ugly face and short brown hair stood in their way.

"At attention you deserting maggots!" He suddenly roared.

Sora and Riku put their arms to their sides and stood up straight as though they were in the army.

"The next time you kids try to go AWOL I'm gonna come after you and hunt you down!"

"Ah, S-sorry sir! But this is our first day here!" Sora gasped.

"Y-yeah." Riku added. "We just got here."

"Oh, sorry about that." Lexeaus said blushing. "Sooo.... You're not Seifer or Rai.... are you?"

"No sir, I'm Sora."

"And I'm Riku."

"My mistake men. Carry on."

"I take it Seifer's in this class too." Sora said to Riku.

"Yeah, but it looks like he skipped class to today. We don't have to worry about him today."

At least for now...

Lunchtime finally arrived and Roxas had just got out of the lunch-line with his tray, he was looking for an empty seat or his brother. Almost all the seats were packed. It would be pretty hard to find ANYONE in this mess. Someone suddenly tapped Roxas on his shoulder making him nearly jump out of his skin.

"I'm sorry, did not mean to scare you." A young girl's voice said quietly almost so quiet that it could barely be heard over the chatter of the other kids.

"That's okay." Roxas said brushing off some pudding that got on his shirt when he jumped. He turned around to face the girl then almost dropped the tray when he saw her. She had semi-short blond hair that gently reached just past her shoulders, and the most lovely light blue eyes. "I-I-I'm Roxas. It's nice to meet you Miss..." He suddenly stuttered.

"Hello, Roxas." She replied. "My name is Naminé."

"Naminé, that's a nice name. Uh, did you need something?"

"Well I was wondering where to sit...I'm new here."

"Me too. Let's look together, kay?"

She smiled. "I'd like that. Thank you Roxas."

Roxas could not help but smile back. "No problem."

Class past by in a blur for Roxas. All he could think about was that girl… Naminé. Even his new friends Hayner, Pence and Olette could not snap him out of it. By the end of school though, as he started to walk home, his friends finally gave him a rude awakening.

"Earth to Roxas! Come in Roxas!" Hayner shouted lightly hitting the top of Roxas's head with his fist.

"Hayner..." said Roxas.

"Yeah?"

Roxas knocked Hayner upside the head slightly harder. "OW!"

"What a couple of hard heads." Pence sighed.

"You said it." Olette agreed.

The four walked together laughing.

Before class had ended for Sora Riku had given him his address, so Sora could come over to his house before the day was over. "Come over after school for that tour I was talking about. There's a lot to see." Riku had told him, so Sora had rushed home to change.

As soon as Sora arrived, he changed out of his school uniform. When he was about to head out the door Aerith stopped him. "Wait Sora. Where's your brother?" she asked.

"Don't know. With some friends I guess." Sora shrugged. "I'm going to see a friend too."

Aerith smiled happily. "I'm glad you two are making some new friends. You're going to have to tell me all about it when you get back. Oh by the way. Be back before it gets to dark, you know how your father is."

"Okay." Sora looked around. "Wait. Where is dad?"

"He got a job as a delivery-man. He's at work now."

"Oh, okay. I'm off."

"Have a good time, Sweetie."

As Sora arrived at Riku's house he got even more thrilled. 'Oh, boy!' He thought. 'My first real chance to see the town!' He rang the doorbell. 'I can't wait!'

The door opened. "Hey!" Sora beamed. "You ready, Ri--" Sora gasped and jumped backwards. A blue haired Zexion through the doorway did just about the same thing the moment he saw Sora.

They both pointed a finger at one another. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" They yelped at the same time.

Before either one of them could answer Riku appeared just behind Zexion. "Zexion what's the matter?" He asked then he noticed Sora. "Ah, Sora, you're here. Ready to go?"

"How do you know him?" Sora and Zexion said at the same time yet again.

"Err...One at a time guys." Riku laughed rubbing the back of his head. "Zexion. This is Sora. My friend." Then he patted the top of Zexion's head. "Sora, this is my older brother, Zexion. He lives here. Well...him and--"

"Zexy! Ri-Ri!" A younger boy's voice called from within the house. Sora peered inside the house noticing right off it was Demyx. Demyx came in their direction looking as though the world was coming to an end. "My music notes for my songs!" He whined. "They're gone!!" He began pulling on Zexion's front shirt. "Help me find them big brother! PLEEEAAASE!"

Sora felt as if he was going to go nuts.

"So I take it, Demyx, is your brother too, Riku?" Sora asked.

"Yep, he's our youngest brother."

"I'll help you find your notes, Demyx, then ALL of you...leave me alone..." Zexion grumbled, going after Demyx.

Riku looked at Sora oddly. "Shocked?"

Sora simply nodded, and then without much word the two of them walked down the street to begin the tour.


	6. Chapter 6: Twilight Tour

For those of you that are reading this I'd thought I'd let you know...this chapter was done by a friend of mine. ^^ We are working on this story together! Sharing the chapters so I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 6: Twilight Tour

Sora smiled giddily as he and Riku walked down the path of the town. Riku pointed around at the various shops and buildings as they passed on by them. He had told Sora that the area where the school was located was called Tram Common.

"And here is the accessory shop, plenty of stuff to buy there." Riku said point to a place on a side of building that had jewelry above the window. Sora nodded as he looked up and down, left to right. He was really enjoying this tour. He was halfway listening to Riku when he stopped and stared a strange shop in the middle of Tram Common.

It had crystal like things coming from the top of the building, and weird geometric shapes on the sign. The thing that caught his attention most was the little strange white creature with wings and huge ball antenna in front of the counter.

"Hey Ri-"

"AH SORA! LOOK OUT!" Riku suddenly pulled him backwards falling down with Sora coming into his lap. Just as Sora fell a train moved past them turning around the curve. Sora blinked in surprise at the sudden pull, and at the train.

"Uh… whoa…" He slowly got up a little shaken. Riku shook his head and stood up brushing himself off. He turned Sora to face him and gave him a sour face.

"Sora, you've got to not space out like that. It's gonna get you hurt." Riku stated flatly.

Sora blinked in surprise then looked down sadly shuffling his feet. "Sorry." He mumbled. Riku stared at him then grabbed him in a headlock and ruffled his hair making Sora squirm.

"Ah, don't worry about." Riku said as he let go. He had a grin on his face as Sora fixed his hair. "So what were you staring at, Space Cadet?" Sora made a face then pointed over to the shop.

"That, I was wondering what that was and what was in it."

"Hmm?" Riku looked behind Sora. "Oh that, heh that's the Synthesizing Shop."

"The Synth-whatta?" Riku laughed then pushed Sora over to it.

"Synthesizing Shop, it's where you take items and give them to this Moogle," Riku pointed to the creature that Sora had stared out, "and he makes new items out of those."

"….OH! Okay I get it, heh." Riku rolled his eyes and lightly bonked Sora's head. Sora waved to the Moogle who bowed back to him.

"See ya later, Mog." Riku said to the Moogle as he pushed Sora walking off into a different section. They traveled north up the streets and Sora kept stopping Riku to ask him questions about certain buildings. Riku was thrilled that Sora was so intent on learning about the town, usually new kids weren't, but Sora seemed happy just to be around someone.

Eventually to turned a corner and were about to go down a hill, but Sora stopped seeing a hole in the wall. He stared at it then went over to it peeking in.

"Hey Riku… what's this?" Riku looked over then his eyes widened, and he quickly rushed over to Sora pulling him away from it. "Hey, whoa! What's the big idea?!"

"Sora, don't go in there alright? It's dangerous." Sora raised an eyebrow at the tone of Riku's voice, and at his actions.

"What's… in there?" He asked slightly hesitant.

"Nothing you need to worry about, okay? This hole isn't part of the tour so come on." Riku gently pulled Sora away from and headed down the hill. Sora looked back at it before walking without Riku's help. He was curious to what was in there, but at the moment with Riku here he wasn't about to go and find out. Perhaps when he knew the town better he'd go, or when he had some time to himself.

Sora shrugged and pushed the hole to the back of his mind focusing on Riku's tour guide. Sora smirked making a rather embarrassing comment about Riku's tour, which made Riku grab Sora in a headlock and mess with his hair.

---oO0---o)0(o---0Oo---

Hayner, Pence, and Olette led Roxas to a back alley that was just north/west of the Sandlot. Roxas looked around as he pondered about where they were taking him, though about a minute ago he had been slightly concerned about going through the Sandlot. He was concerned that they'd run into Seifer and Rai again, fortunately they didn't though.

"So… where are we going?" Roxas asked curiously as he stared up at the buildings.

"You'll see." Was all Hayner said. Roxas frowned, but didn't say anything back. All of a sudden though a gate with a door and a clothed door behind it came into view making him stop and stare.

"What's--"

"You'll see!" Hayner pushed Roxas through the gate and clothed door.

"H-hey!" Roxas started to say, but stopped upon seeing the inside.

It was a small area, but very comfy looking. It was kind of a square liked shaped room. It had a couch and several boxes on the right and front side. On the left/front there was a ladder and a poster of Twilight Town, and on the right side wall was a dartboard. Roxas stepped forward intrigued by the room.

"Heh, welcome to our spot Roxas, the Usual Spot!" Hayner waved his hand around while Olette sat on the couch, and Pence sat a box against the right/front wall.

"This is YOUR spot?" Roxas asked surprised.

"Yup." Pence replied while shifting through something.

"Found it, and claimed it as ours!" Hayner stated proudly.

"Cool!" Roxas grinned. Hayner patted his back then sat down on a furnace just in front of him then Pence came up to Roxas and gave him a bluish ice cream bar. "What's this?"

"Just try it!" Pence insisted. Roxas stared at it then licked it. He blinked in surprise; it was salty, yet sweet!

"Wow, this is good!" Pence smiled and gave Olette and Hayner one as well before sitting down. Roxas licked at it and looked for a place to sit. Olette patted the seat next to her on the couch and Roxas gladly took it.

As soon as Roxas sat down a conversation between the four started. They laughed and talked about random events. One event in particular they talked about for a while.

"The Struggle Tournament? What's that about? Do you wrestle on the ground or something?" Roxas asked in between. Hayner and Pence blinked at him then laughed. Roxas raised an eyebrow not sure what had been funny.

"No no!" Hayner replied trying to control his laughter. "It's a fight, you hit people with a Struggle stick and try to knock them down!"

Roxas blinked before saying, "ooooh! I see. I get it." Hayner laughed more at Roxas's response whom gave a sheepish smile. "Hehe…" Olette patted his back and smiled at him.

"Join Roxas!" Pence shouted out. "You'll be good at it, I can tell!" Roxas looked over at Pence, smiled and nodded.

"Heh, I will then!" Hayner gave a thumps up to Roxas grinning happily. Roxas smiled back and ate the rest of his ice cream.

This was the start of an excellent relationship; Roxas could just feel it.

---oO0---o)0(o---0Oo---

"This here is Station Plaza!" Riku pointed to a huge tower with bells hanging from the top and a clock in the middle. Sora stared in awe at it as Riku walked up the steps. "This is the train station that takes you to the beach, Sunset Station, and other such places." Sora nodded to him still staring at the tower. Riku rolled his eyes and grabbed his arm dragging him inside the building.

"Wha, where we going?" Sora asked shaking off Riku and walking on his own.

"To Sunset Station, I want to show you it before it gets dark. The sunsets there are amazing too."

"Oh okay." Sora replied as Riku got onto a train ushering Sora to follow. Sora quickly got on it before it took off.

---oO0---o)

When they arrived Sora and Riku ran and jumped down the steps quickly. They only stopped when they almost ran into a tree. They leaned against a wall while breathing heavy and laughing at the same time.

"I… I win." Riku stated huffy and standing up. Sora looked up at Riku shaking his head.

"Nuh-uh… you… cheated."

"Ha! You're just slow." Sora stuck his tongue out before standing up straight.

"Got your breath back?" Riku asked, Sora nodded. "Good, now come. I want to show you Sunset Hill before it gets dark."

"Got it… oh what's this place called?"

"Sunset Terrace." Riku started to walk under an archway with Sora quickly following after. They were taking the back part of Sunset Terrace.

"Heh, this is a cool place. More open and unique than the Tram Common and Station Heights."

"Yeah, great place to come to when you just want to relax and get away from crowds." Sora smiled and looked around. He stopped suddenly when he saw a tunnel. He cocked his head and walked up to it.

"Hey Riku, where's this lead to?" Riku came up next to him and frowned.

"Many areas, back to Station Heights for one."

"Oh, heh we should take it when we go back then!" Sora smiled giddily at Riku, but frowned when Riku's expression didn't change. "Aw, why not?"

"No Sora. The tunnels are dangerous, they are filled with Heartless more than in town. You wouldn't stand a chance going in there alone, or even with me with you." Sora sighed and stared into the tunnel. 'I could take them probably since I have THAT.' Sora thought before turning to Riku.

"How about just a short trip ins--"

"Sora… it's too dangerous, alright? I don't want to see you get hurt, okay?" Riku looked at Sora with a small friendly smile. Sora blinked at Riku's concern then smiled back and nodded.

"Okay, I won't go in." Riku patted Sora's head.

"Come on, to the hill!" Riku shouted as he started to run. Sora groaned and ran after him.

"More running!?"

Once they got to the top of Sunset Hill they could see the sun just starting to go down behind the grassy hills in the distant.

"Yes! We made it just in time!" Riku said as he sat down. Sora came up and sat down next to him.

"Wow, you're right it is pretty." Riku nodded to him and leaned back on his hands looking out at the sun. Sora did the same and sighed happily.

"So did you enjoy the tour?" Riku asked calmly, Sora nodded. "That's good. Oh here's an idea, I'll introduce you to The Struggle tomorrow or something. It's a really fun game were you have this struggle stick and you hit people with it. It's made out of foam so that you don't hurt the other person badly, but anyway. You hit them and try to either knock them down for 5 seconds, or knock them out of the ring. It's held in the Sandlot, and soon there's going to be The Struggle Tournament. If you practice enough and get good enough points, you probably can be in the tournament like I'm going to be." Sora had listened intently, a goofy smile coming onto his face.

"Sounds like fun! I'll try my hardest to do this. Heh, I've practice with wooden swords when I was on Destiny Islands." Riku grabbed his shoulder grinning.

"Then you'll do fine."

---oO0---o)

"Sis… where are you going?"

"Just for a short patrol. You know how many Heartless are out, and you know what I do."

"… … Just be safe okay?"

"I promise I'll be just fine. I always am right? Nothing can hurt your sister!"

---oO0---o)

Riku and Sora got off the train that led to Station Heights and stretched.

"Wow, it's pretty late, we'd better hurry home." Riku stated as he started to walk out of the station with Sora following.

"That was fun Riku, thanks a lot!" Sora smiled walking next to Riku. Riku smiled/grinned back then stopped when they got outside. "Hmm, something wrong Riku?" Riku remained silent and slowly looked around while walking. "Rik--" A sudden hissing sound interrupted Sora making him freeze in his tracks. Heartless!

Riku bit his lip and slowly backed up, he reached for the station's door and tried to open it. He hit himself mentally when he realized they were locked from the outside after 6. He glanced at Sora and slowly nodded to him "Run when I nod again." He told Sora quietly. Sora nodded and waited for the signal, Riku looked around quickly then nodded and ran. Sora quickly ran after him, but they came to a screeching halt when Shadow Heartless blocked their path.

"Oh, now what do we do?" Sora asked as they backed up against the railing. He looked behind him and gulped, long way down.

"We break through, that's the only thing we can do." Riku responded trying to sound calm, but there was fear in his voice. Sora bit his lip then remembered last night. 'My keyblade…' Quickly Sora reached into his pockets and looked for that lucky shell, but when he realized it wasn't there fear gripped him like death. 'We're gonna get hammered.' He thought as even more Shadow Heartless appeared around them, cornering them.

Then, they attacked. Riku and Sora placed up their arms to protect their faces.

SMASH!

Sora and Riku blinked in surprise at the sound and saw the Shadow Heartless fly across the ground. Sora's eyes widened greatly as he saw a key shaped weapon whip by his face. 'A… A keyblade!'. It was pure black and it had web-like wires that were strung across the blade all the way to the handle. At the base of the handle was a spider like form, the place where at keyblade was grabbed. It had a small chain with a spider at the end of it. The top of the keyblade was like his Oathkeeper. At the end of blade though, were spider like fangs that hung out on both sides of it, and looked as to be tipped with a deadly poison.

Sora blinked in surprise, he had thought he was the only one with a keyblade. In an instant though the keyblade was out of his face and in the face of a heartless. He stared after it and tried to glimpse a view of its wielder. A sudden gleam of moonlight showed a tail and fuzzy ears. Sora shook his head and rubbed his eyes not believing what he saw. Riku had also seen it so he and Sora glanced at each other confused.

They stayed where they were until all the Heartless were gone. To them it had gone in slow motion, but only about a minute had past. The wielder's keyblade vanished into thin air after they were done. Riku and Sora looked around carefully before stepping into a gleam of moonlight. The wielder stood close, but not in it.

"Um… excuse me?" Sora asked gently reaching out for the person who quickly turned around at his voice. Sora flinched away afraid they'd hit him.

"Are you alright?" A girl's voice came forth from the person. Sora and Riku raised an eyebrow in surprise. A girl had just talked to them. A GIRL! A girl had just talked to them and taken down a whole bunch of heartless on her own! It wasn't possible, maybe they were dreaming. The girl stepped into the moonlight revealing herself. Sora and Riku gasped.

She had no fuzzy ears or tail like they had seen, had that been a dream too? They stared at her slightly blushing at her beauty.

She was fairly tall for a girl, probably around 5'8' or 5'9. Her hair was short, just below her ears. It was kind of messy and covered her right eye. It was a brown color, but in the moonlight it looked to almost have an orangish tint to it. Her eyes glistened showing a light purplish color. Her clothing was strange though. She wore something that covered her chest, but not her shoulders. It was green and had small red lines on it, it went from her neck to just below her breasts.

Attached to it was a bluish side-open shirt with red flames scattered across it. This shirt ended showing her belly button just slightly. On her arms were long sleeved cloths that began at her armpits and ended past her hands. They had the same designs as her bluish shirt. She wore a long light blue skirt that ended at her ankles, where black boots could be seen. The only thing that confused Sora and Roxas was the thing around her neck.

It was a collar, but not any collar, it was a prison chain collar. The ones that were used on your hands when you were chained to the walls in prison. It covered most of her neck and looked very heavy. There was a small linked chain that came from the middle, though it looked like it had been broken at one point.

Even though they noticed all of this, they failed to notice one thing: The anger that rose on her face.

"ARE YOU OKAY!?" She shouted making them jump. Their hearts almost stopped as they stared at her. Sora and Riku slowly nodded. "Gah, finally an answer." She said shaking her head. "Took you long enough, what were you doing? Being Space Cadets?"

"Uh… uh… well n-no." Sora slightly stuttered suddenly more afraid of her than of the Heartless. "J-just observing…"

"Riiiight. Anyway, I'm glad that you two are safe." She looked between Sora and Riku. "Hmm, you're Riku, I remember my little sister telling me about your silver hair. And you're….?" She asked glancing at Sora.

"S-Sora." She smiled and stuck her hand out.

"The name's Arya." Sora grabbed the girl's hand and shook it. Riku did the same when it was his turn.

"It's nice to meet you, Arya." Riku finally spoke up. Arya looked at him and slightly bowed.

"Same here." Arya yawned for a second then turned around and started to walk off since Sora and Riku weren't saying anything else.

"Ah! A-Arya wait!" Sora called up and run up to her. "Um… that…weapon you had… where did you get it?"

"Had it." And with that note she jumped up onto a building as graceful as a cat and vanished into the night. Riku came up next to Sora and stared.

"Who was that really?" Riku asked crossing his arms.

"I have no idea, but who ever she was, something's different about her."

"Yeah that's for su--"

DING! DONG!

"Oh no." Riku groaned. "It's 11 o'clock! We better hurry home or els--"

"SORA!!!" Sora and Riku quickly turned to see Cloud coming up to them with his sword on his back. He was slightly out of breath and his face showed worry.

"D-dad!" Sora went up to Cloud and looked at him with concern. "W-what's wrong?" Cloud quickly looked up.

"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG!? What's wrong is that you're not home!" Sora flinched at his father's tone of voice. "What the heck are you doing running around so late at night?? You could have been attacked by Heartless or even killed! I even killed a dozen or so before finding you here! Do you know how worried your mother was about you??" Sora looked down ashamed that he hadn't come back sooner. Cloud placed his sword down and hugged Sora gently. "I could have lost you…"

"… I…. I'm sorry Dad… I… I didn't mean to…" Sora bit his lip and stared at the ground. He hated making his parents worry.

"Ah… just… come on. Let's go home." Cloud let go and picked up his sword. He turned around and started to walk.

"Oh Dad, could we drop off Riku before heading home?" Sora asked following him with Riku.

"Riku?" Cloud turned around and looked at the silver haired boy. Riku smiled and waved him. "Your friend you told your mother about?" Sora nodded smiling. "Fine with me. Now let's go. I don't feel like finding anymore Heartless." He started to jog and Sora and Riku quickly followed after him.

They looked at each and grinned. "Crazy night, huh Riku?" Sora whispered to him.

"Yeah, but it was worth it." Riku grinned and stared up at the sky as they jogged. "Running around with you then witnessing a strange person take on Heartless like that. Heh, it was fun and an amazing experience. Glad you and I are friends."

A happy smile crept forth onto Sora's face. He had made a good friend.

_______________________________________

And for the record! The character named: Arya does NOT belong to me!!! She belongs to my friend! So no stealing her! OR any other OC's that I bring into this story! Cause this story will have quite a bit of OC's in it!

~Trinity


	7. Chapter 7: Payback!

Chapter 7: Payback!

Soon when Riku was dropped off back home Sora and Cloud headed back for home themselves. Cloud did not say much since afterwards when he found the boys. Just glad they were unharmed. Opening the door to their house, Sora's first sight was Aerith.

She quickly swooped down to her son and hugged him hard. "Oh thank god, your all right!" she cried. Voice more happy to see him then mad. She gave him a kiss on the forehead. Then stood up and did the same for Cloud.

"You should head for bed." Cloud told Sora. "Its been a long day. We will talk more tomorrow." Sora nodded and headed for upstairs. Cloud collapsed onto the couch, sighing deeply. "I'm gonna get gray hairs pretty soon." he muttered. "I'm too young to get gray hair."

Aerith managed a small laugh. "Well he's home safe and sound. That's what's matters." she sat down beside Cloud.

"Yeah, that's true..."

Sora reached his room to find Roxas already in bed and asleep. Not wanting to wake his brother he quietly made his way to his own bed and got under the covers and rolled over to go to sleep. As he started to doze something flew and his him on the head. Slightly startled Sora sat up and looked around, only to find his brother up too. Roxas had only threw a paper ball at him. Roxas looked rather angry. Not that Sora could blame him.

"You klutz, Where were you?" Roxas asked, there was a hint of anger in his voice.

"I...uh...I could ask you the same thing!" Sora replied, defending himself.

Roxas crossed his arms. "I'm not the one who's late coming home, idiot!"

He was right about that.

"I was out with my new friend Riku, he um...showed me around town. We were late coming home. Sorry...."

"You bet you were late." Roxas said, as he looked down at the floor. "But I...uh...I'm glad your okay." Roxas laid back down. "Good night Sora."

"Night...Roxas." When Sora was sure Roxas was asleep this time he got up really quick and looked for his lucky charm shell. He soon found it amongst his school uniform. He needed to keep this with him at all times. Not only to protect himself but all his friends too.

That and the fact he needed to find out more about these 'Keys', like just how many are them out there? What kinds of powers did they have? And....Arya...Maybe she knew a lot more than what she said. He needed to find her again and talk to her more. That is if he ever saw her again.

Tiredness settling in he quietly fell asleep.

Morning came fast. Roxas told Sora about his time with Hayner and the gang went as did Sora with his tour with Riku. Soon the two were talking about 'Struggle'. Roxas was planning on signing up. And of course Sora was going to also. He'd never turn down something this cool. After a short breakfast they headed down to the Sandlot to sign up really quick before school. They found Hayner and the gang as well as Riku there too.

"Hey, how'd your parents take you being gone so late last night, Riku?" Sora asked, worriedly. In hopes his friend did not get into too much trouble.

"Well my mom and dad are just glad I'm okay...a little upset but they'll get over it. How about you?"

"Same." Sora said simply.

"You guys getting ready to sign up for Struggle?" Hayner asked.

"Yep, that's why we're here." Roxas said.

"Okay just remember that you still need to earn enough points before you can play in the tournament this year. I'll be happy to teach ya a few of my moves." Hayner flexed the muscles in his arms. Olette laughed

"Your moves?" said Pence.

"Not that any of you will stand a chance!" a voice snorted from behind. Everyone turned to see Seifer and Rai coming towards them, as much to the others dismay. "Kiddy's should not enter an adults fight."

"Why I outta--" Hayner growled, starting to move forward, but Olette and Roxas each grabbed him by his arms.

"No, Hayner!" Olette called.

"Not worth it, bud!" Roxas added.

Riku stood in front of everybody, fear that Seifer might hurt them. And he would too. Riku ready'd himself to fight. "Back off, Seifer. Being late for school a second time is not something I plan to do."

"Have it your way, ya know?" Rai said as he and Seifer turned to walk away.

"See you two in the gym, chumps." Seifer said referring to Sora and Riku.

"Yeah, great. The gym..."

Roxas and Sora quickly signed in and headed for school.

Roxas's first class was art. He and Namine had that class together. This was his big chance to talk to her again.

"Morning Roxas" she greeted, the moment he walked in.

"M-morning Nami." Roxas smiled, coming over and sitting down next to her. 'She remembered my name!' Roxas thought happily to himself. 'My name! Me!'

"Roxas, are you alright?" Namine asked. "Your face is very red."

"Huh?!" Roxas turned away to hid his face. "N-n-no! I'm fine." he turned back over after about five minutes of silent's to see what Namine was doing, since she suddenly stopped talking. "Whatcha drawing there, Namine?" he asked, after all this IS art class. And she DOES have a drawing pad that's she writing in.

"You wanna see?" Namine handed her art book to Roxas. There was all kinds of pictures of Twilight Town in it. All fully colored and even a few of some of the people living here too. "I asked people if they wanted to pose for my drawings cause I'm still learning the human form." Roxas did not say much at first. Too busy looking through the pages with interest. "I still need more practice though I guess..."

"These are great Namine!" Roxas finally said. "I did not know you could draw. I know I can't!"

"You really like it?" Namine asked, eyes fluttering with hope.

"You bet." Roxas smiled. "And if you need more help with human poses I'll be happy to pose in your next picture."

"Your so sweet." Namine said gently. "I'd love that. Thank you."

"You dont need to thank me, Nami." Roxas laughed. 'Getting to talk to you is thanks enough.' he thought to himself. He stopped when he got down to another page. "Who's this?" Roxas asked, pointing to a drawing of some spiky red-haired teen leaning up to a wall and the floor in the picture. His face was barely visible in the pic.

"Oh, it's a guy I always find hanging out on the school rooftops during lunch. He's always hanging out by himself. A lot of kids out here say he's a Pyro." Namine frowned. "I feel kinda bad that he hangs up there all the time by himself. No one to talk to..."

"Pyro?" Roxas spoke up. "You mean like fire?"

"Uh-huh." Namine nodded. "They say he can control fire."

"Hey sounds cool! Maybe I'll go see for myself."

Down in Music class...

The class was hard at work. Kairi was playing the piano, Demyx was playing his sitar up next to Kairi. Kairi could not help but listen to him play rather than herself. He was the best in the class. Kairi did not need to know it from the other kids or the teacher. She knew it for fact! He played so sweetly and so wonderfully. It made her just want to get lost in a day dream...When he finished playing she began talking to him for the first time.

"You play wonderful." she told him.

"Thanks." Demyx replied, testing the strings of his Sitar making sure it was going to be ready to play again. "Your not so bad yourself at the piano too."

"I wish." Kairi sighed. "But I think I like singing better..."

Demyx froze, one of the strings of his Sitar snapped. "You-you sing?"

"Uh-huh!" Kairi said proudly. "Although...Roxas and Sora never much cared that I sang...tsk, Some boys! Oops! I'm sorry, after all your a boy too..."

"I dont mind." Demyx laughed. "But I...I would not mind hearing you sing. You sound like you have a beautiful singing voice." Kairi began to blush hard.

"Really?" Kairi asked. "You mean it?"

Demyx looked her softly in the eyes. "I do."

Kairi could not help but like this guy. "Maybe someday, I will." she vowed.

During lunch Roxas and Namine went up to the roofs. Roxas mainly going cause he never knew ANYONE who could control fire. That's sounds amazing! However Namine followed Roxas cause she herself was not sure if it was a good idea to bother this guy or not. After all he did only like coming up here by himself.

"This might not be the best idea, Roxas." Namine whispered.

"Relax, Nami, I got it all under control." Roxas smiled. "What's the worst he can do--"

Hot flames came across Roxas's face like a whip. The sudden flames caused Namine to yelp. "Who the heck are you?!" the red headed boy barked, getting up from his position on the ground, and pining Roxas to a wall with his hands.

"N-No! Let him go!" Namine yelled. "Dont hurt him!"

"Great..."Roxas grumbled. "Another Seifer-like bully! Namine run!"

"B-but Roxas!" Namine did not want to leave Roxas with this guy. He could really hurt him, if he wanted to. She began pulling on the green eyed Pyro's arm to try to get him to let go of Roxas.

The Pyro-boys grip lightened. "Wait a sec, did you say Seifer? Oh, sorry man! So you not one of his henchman, then?" He let Roxas go. Roxas staggered backwards to Namine.

"No were not!" Roxas said, a bit annoyed. "Did you have to do that??"

"Whoa, whoa! Chill out! It's just that guys been giving me a hard time since I got here." The Pyro said rubbing the back of his head. "You dont seem like the kind of people he hangs around anyway." he stuck out his hand to Namine and then to Roxas and the three of them shook hands. "The names Axel. That's A-X-E-L, got it memorized?"

Roxas laughed. "I think so..." Axel must dislike Seifer more than anybody. "So umm...what did he do to you that made you so mad?" Roxas asked.

"Well he...." Axel began to say but then stopped. His ears perked up as he heard something down below near the side of the building. "Ah, speak of the devil!" Axel headed down to the side of the rooftop and looked down. Roxas and Namine did the same. Seifer and Rai, were down at the bottom talking to one another. "Well, well....now's my big chance!" Axel reached down to get his back pack that was on the roof with him and started digging through it.

"What are you--" Roxas started.

"Ah, ha!" Axel cheered as he pulled out a bunch of water balloons.

Water balloons?!

Axel when back to the end of the roof top with the water balloons and dumped them right over! Roxas and Namine gasped. This was not good. The water balloons landed all over Seifer and Rai, getting them wet but good! Seifer roared out with anger as he looked around trying to find out who did that. He soon spotted Axel on the rooftop. "That's payback!" Axel howled down to Seifer. "How do you like me noooowww??!!" he mocked, sticking out his tongue.

"Bet they needed a bath anyway." Roxas joked. Namine laughed. Axel could not help but smirk at that comment himself.

"YOU LITTLE PUNKS!!! I'M GONNA GET YOU!! " Seifer shouted, he and Rai heading for the inside the building.

"Great he's coming this way!" Roxas took Namine by the hand. "Come on! We gotta get out of here before he comes up!"

"To late." Axel stated. The roof doors slammed open. Seifer made his way over to the three. Mad a heck.

"So? These guys were behind it as well?!" Seifer asked, referring to Roxas and Namine. He began to come close to them but Axel stepped in front of the two.

"Leave them out of this!" Axel smirked. "Is me ya want! This was my idea!" he flexed his fists. "Come on! Come and get me!"

"You'll pay!!" Seifer snapped, he and Rai charging for Axel. They did not get close enough though, as something jumped out in front of Axel and smashed Seifer's face with their fist. Seifer flew backwards into Rai, at the sudden blow. "Son-of-a...." was all Seifer could say, before getting up and walking away.

"Whoa, dude! I was fighting him! What do you think you're doing?!" Axel fumed at the person. Whoever it was turned around and looked Axel with fire in her own eyes. For it was none other than Arya. Not that they knew that. She looked at Axel like she was about to kill him.

"Who you calling dude?!" she snapped. "And I should be asking you what YOU were doing." she looked past Axel. "Namine are you okay?" she asked gently. Axel turned around shocked at Namine who was standing next to Roxas who was quite stunned himself. Namine made a small nod, as Arya made her way past Axel to her. "Come on Nami, let's go."

"Kay." Namine agreed. She turned to look at Roxas. "I'll see you later Roxas." she promised.

Arya turned and looked at Roxas. "So your Roxas?"

"Y-yes." Roxas stuttered a little.

"I see..." Arya smiled. "Namine's been talking to me about you." Namine blushed a little.

"Hiya, miss." Axel said nicely. "My names--"

"You shut up." Arya glared. "You put Namine in danger. I dont even wanna hear it right now."

"I- But I..." Axel yelped. He did not mean to put Namine in danger. He really did not.

"One more word out of you and I'll toss you off this roof myself!" she snapped again.

".......-_-;......"

Arya and Namine walked off. Axel sighed as she left. Roxas patted Axel on the back. "You know," Roxas laughed. "You should come hang out with me and some of my friends. Better than being out here by yourself. And I'll admit that was pretty cool what you did to Seifer. He had it coming."

"Yeah I guess..." Axel and Roxas walked off together not long afterwards. "Say is it just me, or is she kinda cute when she's angry?" Axel asked Roxas has they headed down for the lunch room.

Roxas laughed. "I would not let her hear you say that, if I were you!"


	8. Chapter 8: Oblivion

Chapter 8: Oblivion

It was another day of school, done and over with, as kids started leaving for home. Roxas finally found Sora at Market Street. "Sora!" he called, seeing his brother walking towards the Station Heights. Sora flinched at the sound of his voice. He turned slowly around to find Roxas glaring, arms crossed firmly to his chest. "Where are you going, and when are you going to be back?"

"Would you quit worrying! I'll be fine!" Sora called, turning the corner and heading up hill. "I just want to check out something at the Station Tower, that's all! I'll meet ya back home in time for dinner!" Roxas stuck out his hand trying to stop his brother. But of course he was to far up the road.

"Hey, wait a minute!" he called out, but Sora must have been outta earshot. He sighed. "Man one of these days he's gonna get himself into REAL trouble...."

Too bad Roxas does not know that's already happened twice since they moved here.

"You know something?" a voice said from behind Roxas, causing the blond to jump. "I thought you and that boy Sora looked alike." Roxas turned, seeing the girl from before. Arya. "My guess is that must be your brother."

"Oh hi." Roxas greeted. "And yeah...he is...Wait. You've seen him before?" Arya nodded.

"Yes, we have meet before." Arya had Namine right behind her. Roxas blinked when he noticed her.

"Hey, Namine." Roxas smiled. "You two hang out often together, huh?" this causes Arya to laugh. Roxas arches a brow, wondering what's so funny.

"Well I should hope so!" she laughed loudly. "She is my sister, after all!"

"S-sister?" Roxas blinked.

Did not see that one coming!

"Well, anyway we should get going now." Arya said. "Keep an eye out on your brother. I have the feeling, he'll get himself into trouble again."

'Again?' Roxas thought.

"I'll uh...I'll see you later, Roxas." Namine called over her shoulder as her and Arya walked away. Roxas waved good bye.

"Later." he replied, smiling happily. This causes Arya to smirk. She knew what was going on. Sighing Roxas quietly made his way down the streets for home. But then stopped. 'I wonder if Hayner and them are still at the Usual Spot?' He started to head down the walk-way. He soon arrived to find to find the red cloth of the door on fire! Hayner and everyone was inside screaming.

"PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!!" Hayner yelped.

"I can't!" Axel's voice suddenly yelled back. "I'm fire! Not water! What am I supposed to do?!" Roxas started to run for the gates of the Usual Spot, stopping just in front of the madness.

"Hang on, guys!" Roxas shouted to them, looking around quickly for something to put the fire out.

"Yes! Perfect!" he grabbed a nearby water pot and splashed it all over the clothed door. A flower, mud, and water got covered all over the fire putting it out right away. (The other bits of it got on Axel, who was just behind it. What remained of the cloth door burnt now. They'd have to get a new one, one of these day... "Are you guys okay?!" Roxas asked to each.

"A little toasty in here, but other words fine." Pence sighed.

"Nice work, Roxas. You saved the day." Olette smiled. Hayner made a snort.

"Yeah, no thanks to Pyro-Boy here!" Hayner poked Axel in the chest angrily. "You could have hurt Olette!" Olette blushed at Hayner's comment. "And you could have gotten all of us killed!"

"Whoa, now hold on a minute here!" Axel barked. "As I recall you guys are the ones who wanted to see me do tricks with my fire! This was your idea!" Axel charged forward at Hayner, as did Hayner charge for Axel. But Pence held Hayner back and Roxas held Axel back.

"Cut it out! Both of you!" Roxas snapped. The two boys struggles stopped. "Next time," Roxas sighed. "Just do this outside where nothing else can catch on fire..."

"Alright..." Hayner and Axel said at the same time.

"It just goes to show you, you should not play with fire..." Pence laughed. Hayner glared at Pence. "Err...never mind...."

Later Axel and Roxas left since Hayner might need a moment to cool down. They began heading down to the Station Plaza to help look for Sora. "Sooo....you and Hayner looked like you were getting along well till just now, huh?" Roxas asked. Axel shrugged.

"I guess but you're a lot more fun to hang out with...You and that girl and the roof..." Axel made a grin.

"Umm...her name is Arya" Axel's face brightened. "What's that look for?"

"Nothing!" Axel said quickly.

"So, were looking for your brother?" Axel asked.

"Yes. He looks almost like me only with more spiky hair, and he's a bit of a dufus." Roxas replied, continuing to go forward. Axel made a sour face. "What?" Roxas blinked, noticing his stare.

"Nothing. I just take it you two dont get along much, huh?" Roxas made a small nod. "Ah, brotherly love." Axel sighed.

"Brotherly love... Sora's always gotten himself into more trouble than me. And why? Cause the Klutz can't stay still for more than five minutes." Roxas let out a shaky sigh. "Its always been like that. Ever since we were little kids. It's crazy. It always seems like he thinks my jobs easy."

"Job?" Axel asked.

"Looking out for him." Roxas finished. "One time back on the island when we were only five years old...That's when I knew I needed to be there for my brother. Even though we fought a lot it just goes to show how much he means to me..."

--Flash Back--

"Dont stay out on the beach to long you two!" Aerith called to Sora and Roxas, who were on the beach playing near the sandy shores of Destiny Islands. "Its gonna get dark soon. I dont want you two coming home sick with the water so cold. Stay out of the water okay?"

"Okay mom!" The young twins called. Aerith turns and leaves.

"Hey brother. How fast can you swim?" Sora asked. Roxas shrugs.

"Dont know...mommy told us not to go into the beach with the water so cold." Roxas replied, as he sat in the sand trying to make a building.

"It'll only be a few minutes!" Sora pleaded, getting up. "Come on lets have some fun!"

Roxas crossed his arms. "No. You go ahead. See if I care! Your just gonna get in trouble with mom and dad." as far as Roxas knew, the only thing that could go wrong was Sora catching a cold, and mom and dad finding out and grounding him. Not that there was much TO ground him from, but whatever...

"Have it your way!" Sora laughed, running into the water. Roxas watched his brother play in the water with mid-interest. As Sora started swimming Roxas made a huff. Thinking what a show-off he was. Roxas turns around and walks away. As he heads up towards the sea-side shack, he can still hear Sora, laughing and playing.

Roxas headed into the shack and up the steps to the top and began walking down the wooded path way to the small island just above where Sora was playing. Roxas began kicking the dirt under his feet in anger. "He never listens!" Roxas huffs to himself. "I dont know why I even bother!" It began to get quiet all of a sudden. 'Oh well...' Roxas thought. 'That splashing was getting annoying anyway.'

Wait. Not even splashing? Then was Sora..?

"SORA!!" Roxas screamed, running to the edge of the tiny island. Sora was not back on land nor could he be seen in the dark waters below. "Sora!" Roxas cried. This was not like him either. Sure he was not the brightest little guy but he would NEVER pretend to be drowning. He knew better. And Sora was always a good swimmer.

Could maybe it have been...

Suddenly the small head of a brown haired Sora popped out of the water gasping for breath. He looked like he was in pain too. "Sora, what's wrong?!" Roxas called worriedly.

"Brother!...Brother help!" Sora cried. The sound of Sora's voice broke Roxas's heart. "Heartless...water Heartless...has my...legs!!" Sora managed to say before being dragged back down into the water by the massive beast.

"SORA!!!" Roxas screamed louder, voice breaking. He began pacing back and forth quickly trying to figure out what to do. If he left to go get their parents Sora would be long gone before they got there and if he jumped in after him...That's a chance he'd hafta take! Roxas quickly grabbed a nearby tree branch and dived into the water! "I'm coming Sora!"

In the water everything as far as he could see was the bubbles from his splash and from Sora's struggles from the sea heartless. He found the Heartless dragging Sora even further down into the water trying to drown him. Roxas was not going to let that happen as he quickly swam down to the tenicals of the beast, swinging his stick as hard as he could. But the water pressure did not make the swings hit as hard as he really wanted to.

Sora's face began to turn blue from holding his breath. Roxas upset by all this grabs onto the tenicals Sora's in and holds on! But if he lets the beast drag he and his brother down too far they'd never make it up in time. There's only one thing left to do! Roxas finally makes a desperate move and bites down into the flesh of the heartless with all his might.

'Bring him back!' Roxas thought. 'Give me back my BROTHER!!' the Heartless made a screeching sound and finally let go, allowing Roxas to pull his brother back up to shore.

When the two boys were back on land Cloud and Aerith were just now arriving after hearing the echoes of the struggle from back at home.

--End Of Flash Back--

"After that, I..." Roxas sighed. "I could not leave my brother alone. I always continued to bother him cause I could not bear the thought of going through something like that again."

Axel looked at Roxas with sympathy. "Roxas...You can't always expect to be there with him all your life baby-sitting him do you?" Roxas did not know how to reply to that one. "You two have got to go your own way sometimes. Like me and my brother. Sure we look out for each other. But if we were around one another THAT long we'd be arguing everyday."

Roxas laughed. "Your right." Sure Roxas loved his brother to death but Axel had a point. And after all Sora was a bit older, and knew a lot better now, (he hoped!) so he guess that he'd give him a little bit of credit. It could not hurt, right? Roxas stopped and started with Axel back for Roxas's home. "Come on, I'll introduce you to our family."

"Sounds like fun."

Axel was right as far as Roxas was convinced. His brother did not need 24 hour protection. For now...

"By the way Roxas. Did you and your brother get into a lot of trouble that day when you pulled him outta the water?"

Roxas chuckled. "Nah! Mom and dad figured us catching colds afterwards was punishment enough!"

Meanwhile Sora started to head his way up the steps of Station Tower. 'The top of the Tower...' he thought. 'It looks like you can sit up there...' as he made his way up the steps he got even more thrilled. 'I bet this is gonna be even better than Sunset Hill! Well...then again...It's a least gonna be closer than Sunset Hill.' He began to climb the steps even faster.

By the time he reached the top, all he could say was: "Whoa..." As he opened the door to the most pretty view of all of Twilight Town. It showed all there was to see of the town, while Sunset Hill only showed most of the grassy fields.

Sora was so stunned by the beauty of it he walked carefully over to the front of the Tower and sat down. The breeze felt great since he was so high up. He could stay up here forever if he really wanted to. Not that ANYONE would but let him, but oh well...As the sun started to set, Sora began to get up to leave before night fall. He was not about to get into trouble two nights in a row again!

As he stood he heard something shifting around on the other side of the tower. Someone was up here too. Whoever it was, must have heard Sora getting up cause the figure of the person's shadow was coming around the corner. Coming HIS direction! At first Sora thought it was Arya, but the figure was being too quiet.

"Who's there?" Sora asked, voice slightly raised in defense. That must have scared the person somewhat, cause whoever it was started to turn around and walk away. "W-wait! Come back!" Sora called. He did not mean to frighten the person. He begins walking trying to catch up to the one walking away, but he's not minding his footing. Sora quickly starts to lose balance. "Ahh!" Sora yelps. He attempted to grab hold of the side of the building but could not grip it. Sora begins to fall backwards!

As Sora fell he could her a girls voice gasping in terror. Was that the same person on the tower with him? Sora's mind was not on the subject for long. At this point all that was on his mind was the fall. Just as he started going head first down he instantly felt something grab hold of one of his legs tightly. Too bad gravity still was not on his side as he slammed his back onto the side of the building hard.

"Dont w-worry sir! I've got y-you!" the girls voice stuttered. It was not Arya, that's for sure.

"I know, but I'm still just hanging around." Sora said, a little dazed. Sora could hear the girl starting to struggle to keep a hold of him.

"Hol-hold your other foot still so I c-can grab it!" the girl grunted, pulling with all her might. Sora did as he was told and she quickly grabbed a hold and began pulling him up much easier. Sora could feel himself getting closer and closer to the top till finally he made it. When he did he landed on her! Sora laid there stunned for a minute. But when he realized he got off her as quickly as he could.

"I'm sorry!" he gasped. "Are you alright miss?!" The girl did not answer. --Too stunned from Sora landing on her!-- Sora began studying her face.

She had long brown hair slightly past her shoulders. Her top bangs were short and messy but went all the way a crossed her forehead. And she had side bangs that went down just low enough to cover her ears. Her eyes were brown as well, though she was so dizzy at the moment she would not be able to see though them anyway! She wore a purple tan-top and a lovely matching purple skirt. He began to shake her slightly harder than he really needed to.

"Hey! Come on! A-are you okay?!"

"Uh-huh..." she replied, blinking a few times to clear her vision. With Sora's help she began to get up on her own.

"I'm so sorry! I did not mean to do that!" Sora said very upset.

"Its okay.." She told him. "I'll be alright."

"Soo...what were you doing all the way up here?" Sora asked. All though she could asked him the same thing.

"I often come up here." she smiled, turning to look at the sunset. "The higher up I am towards the sky the more comfortable I feel." she let out a odd laugh. "That sounds kinda weird huh?"

"No, not at all." he grinned then started to introduce himself. "I'm Sora."

"Nice to meet you Sora." she replied shyly. "I'm Trinity."

"Trinity, huh? That's a nice name."

Trinity started to blush, then stood up. "I should get going" she said quickly. "I'll be missed at home." Sora looked up towards the sky. It was getting dark! Sora stood up too.

"R-right! Me too!" Sora and Trinity made their way back down the stairs quickly as possible. Once at the bottom they parted ways without much word. Sora felt bad for doing such, for he really needed to thank her again, as she did indeed saved his life. But for now that would have to wait for another time.

Axel and Roxas promised to talk more tomorrow. It was getting late and Sora SHOULD be home by now. Axel walked with Roxas home just in case Heartless were to attack. As they drew closer to the house suddenly Axel grabbed a hold of Roxas's arm. "Uh...what are you doing?" Roxas asked.

"Shh!" Axel hissed, placing his hand on his mouth to shut him up. "Listen...Can't you hear them?" Roxas looked around.

"Who the Heartless?!" Roxas said alerted. Axel shook his head.

"No...Something FAR worse." Roxas looked at Axel confused. What could be worse than the Heartless? Suddenly there was grumbling sounds coming from around the corner. Someone was heading this way. "I knew it." Axel smirked.

"Knew wh--" Roxas began but Axel covered his mouth again and pulled him outta sight of the approaching figures.

"Man the moment I find those punks again, I'm gonna kill them!" Seifer growled to Rai as they rounded the bend of the corner. Axel pulled Roxas into the shadows making them less likely to be seen.

"Uh, Seifer you should try to forget about it for one night, you know?" Rai asked. Seifer grabbed Rai by the hairs on his head. "OWW! That hurts, You know!"

"Forget about it? FORGET ABOUT IT?!" Seifer roared. "Maybe if they beg for mercy!! Till then I'm not gonna give up tell I murder the suckers!"

Roxas gulped. Axel notices and starts to head in the other direction away from Seifer with Roxas. The last thing he wanted was to have one of his friends hurt cause of him. But then...

"But you know what? That Pyro-dork is too big of a cowered to face me anyway. Has to have the help of a girl!" Seifer laughed. Talk about timing! Roxas began to see flames growing on Axels back. This puts 'steaming mad' to a WHOLE new level! Axel pushed Roxas behind him and whispered him to run for home and he'd meet him in school tomorrow.

Roxas nodded and left. He could hear Axel running up to Seifer and Rai, Shouting: "YO! DID YA CALL MY NAME!?" By the time he was outta ear shot Roxas finally stopped and turned around. He could see Axel's flames shooting up from behind a building. If there was not trouble before there sure as heck would be now.

Roxas began to make tracks for home, tuning he rammed into something. Thinking it was merely a building Roxas shrugged and got up. He gasped in shock when he found out what it REALLY was. There stood a BIG Large Body Heartless!

"Heartless!!"

Roxas started to get up and run in Axel's direction. But it was too late and he just ended up smashing into yet another Large Body! "Axel!" Roxas screamed, as he tried to hit and kick the Heartless as hard as he could. However his punches only seemed to hurt himself, and he just ended up bouncing off them like rubber. One large Body came up from behind and knocked him in the back of the head, stunning him, and throwing him to the floor.

Roxas struggled to get up but a crushing force sent him crashing down to the ground as the two heartless piled up on top of him! The pain was unbearable. Roxas let out a pain filled scream. One that echoed throughout the area, which soon died down into a painful moan. Roxas could start to feel the life slipping out of him. He began to close his eyes and lower his head.

"I...cant die...here..." he muttered. "My brother...Mom....Dad...I cant...die...yet..." His head shot up anger rising. "I WONT!!"

Suddenly a big flash of light appeared, and the black crown appeared at his hands. It began to glow with such blinding light. And ether Roxas was going nuts or was he hearing things?

//Oblivion. The Keyblade Of Strength//

Roxas opened his eyes. In his hands held another Key-shaped sword. It was black and had chains up and down the handle and a purple shaped emerald in the center. The black crown was tied to the end like a key chain. Roxas grunted and threw his keyblade as hard as he could at the Large Body's. The might of his keyblade forced the Heartless onto their backs. They began wiggling to get back on their feet, however they were no better off than turtles when forced on their shells!

Roxas quickly took his chance, staggering to his feet, he summoned up all his power and lashed one final blow. The two Heartless got cut in half. Their struggles to get back up stopped. They were dead.

Roxas's victory only lasted so long. He was so tired, he stabbed his keyblade into the ground to give himself support to keep himself from falling. Breathing heavily he could almost not hear Axel as he began to run up to him. "Roxas? Roxas?!" he called. Roxas lifted up his head.

"Axel...?" he asked weakly. Suddenly his keyblade transformed back into just the crown, causing Roxas to fall. This only worried the Pyro more.

"ROXAS!!" By the time Axel reached him Roxas had put the crown back in his pocket for safe keeping. Axel flipped Roxas to his back, and began to examine his wounds. "Man your bruised all over," Axel noted. "But your gonna be okay."

"Yeah..." Was all Roxas could say, as Axel lifted him up onto his back and started to carry him away. Back for home.


	9. Chapter 9: Secrets

Chapter 9: Secrets

Roxas hung on tightly to Axel as Axel carried him on his back toward Roxas' home. "Turn a right here, Axel. My house is the first dark green one on the left." Axel nodded and did as he was told and as soon as he got to the door of the house, he knocked on it.

"Coming!" Cloud's voice drifted from inside. The door opened and Cloud looked out and stared at the two confused at first, but then his eyes widened wide. "What in Heaven's happened!?"

"Uh, well, eh…" Roxas would have rather not told his father about the Heartless attack, but he wasn't one to keep secrets. "I got attacked by Heartless." Cloud sighed and motioned them in, shutting the door when they went inside.

Aerith came into the room and just happened to be carrying medical supplies. She blinked at Axel and Roxas then shook her head. "You both seem to like getting hurt…"

"Both?" Roxas blinked.

"Yes! Sora came back just a few minutes ago with a bruised head! Now get in the living room so I can treat both of you!" Axel followed obediently and placed Roxas on the other couch. Sora looked up when they came in then he blinked.

"Roxas? Whoa, what happened?" He asked trying to get up to see, but Aerith held him down and started to rub stuff on the back of his head. "Ow…"

"Hold still!"

"Heartless…You?" Roxas looked over at Sora.

"I tripped and ran backwards into a wall." Sora smiled sheepishly. Roxas only frowned.

"Liar." Roxas thought. He knew Sora could be clumsy, but he'd fall forward NOT backwards. He shook his head knowing better than to argue in front of their parents.

---oO0---o)

"Later, Axel!"

"See ya tomorrow, Roxas!" Axel waved and grinned running out the door. It was getting really late and he didn't want to his brother to get upset at him again. The door shut and Roxas followed after Sora who was going up to their room.

"Hey, Sora?" Roxas asked as soon as their bedroom door was shut. Sora sat on his bed and blinked at Roxas.

"W-what?" Sora answered nervously. He immediately assumed he was about to get lectured. Roxas sat next to him and pulled out his black crown.

"Remember when I found this?" Sora nodded slowly. "Well, you won't believe what it turned into just a few minutes ago!" Sora stared at Roxas as he started to explain about the Heartless attack, but when Roxas got to explaining about Oblivion Sora's eyes widened greatly.

"You say it was shaped like a key like blade?" Sora asked after Roxas was done explaining. Roxas nodded. "Uh, well… I have something to tell you too…"

Sora told Roxas about his first night here. About how he had gotten attacked by the Heartless, and about how Oathkeeper came to him giving him the ability to kill the Heartless easily. He glanced at Roxas when he was finished to see his reaction. Roxas seemed completely stunned then he stood up.

"We need to tell mom and dad." Sora's eyes widened. He grabbed Roxas and pulled him back onto the bed.

"Wait! Don't do that!"

"What? Why not!?"

"Just don't…" Roxas stared at Sora then glared and quickly got up to run to the door. Sora jumped up and tackled Roxas to the ground making them both slide across the floor. Both of them struggled on the floor until Sora pinned Roxas down.

"Grr… What makes you think I won't tell them?!" Sora glared then grinned getting in idea.

"Cause if you do, I'll tell everyone about that crush you have on a little blonde…" Roxas' eyes widened in surprise and his face turned red.

"W-what are you talking about?!"

"Oh, come on! You know~ The blonde, skinny, pale-"

"Her name is NAMINÉ!" Sora grinned, Roxas glared then widened his eyes in realization. "…… If… I promise not to say anything, you promise not to tell?" He looked away, embarrassed. Sora nodded.

"Of course! Just promise!" Roxas sighed. He knew that if he didn't Sora WOULD tell everyone, and he just wasn't ready for that. Sora really liked to embarrass people in the worst possible ways he could find. But Roxas also knew that if he did promises Sora wouldn't tell anyone until he said it was okay to. It was pretty much a win/lose situation.

"Alright, I promise not to say ANYTHING about the crown, seashell, AND the Keyblades." If he didn't say it like that Sora would have gotten mad. Sora stared then got off of Roxas and plopped onto his bed. Roxas sat up rubbing his arms and glared at Sora. A light blush was still on his cheeks as he thought of Naminé. He rested his cheek on his up raised hand sighing greatly. "I still think the Keyblades are more important than what he thinks to believe."

Roxas shook his head and got ready for bed. He didn't want to think about it anymore, but what DID pop into his mind was the sweet smile of Naminé.

---oO0---o)0(o---0Oo---

"Ahahahaha! I'm gonna win!"

"I don't think so, Sora!" Riku yelled as he started to get ahead of Sora. They were racing through the school hallways. School was over and it was Friday! The weekend was now upon them!

"ACK!" Sora suddenly tripped and rolled into Riku's legs.

"AHH!" Riku fell backwards onto his butt as Sora rolled into a wall upside down. Roxas and Hayner quickly came out of a classroom and stared at the two.

"Uh, Sora? What are you doing?" Roxas shook his head, frowning. Hayner chuckled at Sora's dizzy expression that was on his face.

"I…I'm runnin'! M-move outta way, Roxas!" Sora moved his legs like he was running then he fell upright, but unfortunately onto his head! "OW!!!" Riku quickly got up and ran over to Sora helping him to his feet. Roxas and Hayner stood there staring at Sora.

"Sigh, Sora if you hit your head again mom won't be happy." Sora rubbed his head groaning.

"Yea, I get it."

"Don't do anything stupid, ya hear!" Sora shouted as he and Hayner ran off. Sora groaned again then grinned big. Riku raised an eyebrow, confused.

"What you grinning at, Sora?"

"I won."

"What? Whatever! Tripping does not count, you klutz!" Riku laughed while Sora stuck his tongue out at him. "Heh, now come on! Let's go! I've got this really fun idea…"

---oO0---o)

Sora looked nervously down the hill. They were at the top of Sunset Hill and Sora was on a blue skateboard.

"Y-you sure this is a good idea, Riku?" Riku came up next to Sora and smiled.

"I'm sure, Sora! Just don't stand up straight. Lean in the direction of the way you want to go. Keep your legs spread apart;0 never together, you'll lose balance otherwise." Riku smiled warmly making Sora have some comfort. "You'll do fine, okay? I'm sure of it."

"…Okay…." Sora took a deep breath and spread out his legs on the skateboard, bending down slightly. "Ready." Riku gently gave Sora a push to get him moving. Sora grimaced as he moved down the hill, but then his face turned into a giddy smile as he started to have fun. He quickly got used to it and started to pick up speed.

"Heh, looks like you're getting it!" Riku stated coming up next to Sora on a Silver skateboard. "I'll give you an hour to practice before the race!"

"Huh? Race?"

---oO0---o)

About an hour or two later Riku and Sora were at the Station Plaza standing next to their skateboards. They grinned at each other, excited.

"Alright, we're gonna go down the hill and turn right immediately into the back alleyway. Follow down that hill and turn left and down the steps! Careful, there are a lot of them there! We're gonna cruise straight across through the Sandlot and right into Tram Common. It doesn't matter how you go through Tram Common, but just get to the northwest hill that leads back to Station Heights. Then, finally, take that hill we came down back up to here." Riku finished his explanation and grinned at Sora. "You gonna be able to remember that?"

"Go down the hill, take the back alleyway, go through the Sandlot, travel through Tram Common then go back up the hill to Station Plaza." Sora grinned back.

"Heh, good! Now… Ready." Both of them got on the skateboards. "Seeeet…….GO!" They took off at the same time and raced down the hill. Riku took the lead and turned right and through the back alleyway. He almost hit Axel on the way who just blinked at him.

"SORRY AXEL! RACING SORA!" Axel grinned as he saw Sora come flying by just as Riku shouted that.

"I think I'll follow." Axel grabbed his red skateboard from the Usual Spot and quickly followed after. He already knew Riku's racecourse.

Riku easily got down all the steps and raced straight through the Sandlot. He was glad he didn't see Seifer or Rai, didn't want them messing up the race. As Riku got into Tram Common he didn't take the short way to the hill. He knew Sora wouldn't be able to get down those steps that well so he took a long way to get some more fun out of this.

Carefully he headed under the train track bridge and to the right into a small area, but as soon as he went in he ran right smack into someone. Both of them went flying/skidding across the ground and almost into a wall. Riku's skateboard FLEW through the air and over the buildings to where he had just come from. Riku groaned in pain as he felt something soft underneath him.

Wait… soft?

Riku blinked opening his eyes. His eyes widened immediately and a small blush went across his face. Underneath him was a girl about his age. She had light purple hair that was almost silver like his. It was short, and spiky at the tips. She had long bangs that covered the left side of her face, although, part of the bangs shifted to the right instead of completely going with the flow to the left. But out of all the features in her face, what caught his attention the most were her eyes.

They were a deep crimson red color that seemed to glow in the sun. Riku could not pull his eyes away from hers, but he did happen to notice what else was crimson red… her face. Riku quickly sat up, which he was promptly on her legs, and waved his hands around.

"I-I'm so sorry!"

"…." Riku bit his lip and stood up then helped the girl to her feet. She brushed herself off while avoiding Riku's gaze, even though Riku had already looked away. He glanced back at her curiously, though. He stared at her realizing how beautiful she was.

"And to think… I was inches from her face just a few seconds ago!" Riku cleared his throat when she was done. "Uh…. Um… Are you alright?" He asked nervous suddenly for some reason. The girl looked at him and nodded.

"Fine." She rubbed her arm as if in pain.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Riku took a step forward, suddenly becoming concerned for this girl.

"N...No." She slightly stuttered backing up against the wall.

"But you're arm… it's bleeding." Riku gently touched it as he got right up next to her. Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked down at it. He was right, it was bleeding. "Here, let me help you with that." Riku took off his small hand sleeve cover that was on his left hand.

He placed it through her arm and up onto her wound. Her arms were weren't as toned as his (Of course, why would they be?), so it didn't stay up. Riku reached into his pocket and pulled out some small pieces of string that he was going to use for a school project. Carefully he tied the sleeve onto her arm and stood back. "There."

The girl stared at Riku, speechless. Usually she would have pushed someone like him away, but for some reason when she saw him she just couldn't. She looked down having a slight blush on her cheeks. Riku gave a small smile.

"Well I h-"

"ALRIGHT! THAT'S IT PUNK!" Riku and the girl turned around to see Seifer coming. Riku groaned and got in front of the girl standing up straight to the incoming Seifer who had Riku's skateboard in his hand. "I assume this to be yours, Riku."

"And if it is?"

"You're gonna get it!" Seifer threw down Riku's skateboard and grabbed Riku by his collar and pulled him into the air. Riku's eyes widened and he struggled grabbing Seifer's arms.

"L-let go!"

"Heh, not so tough anymore, are ya!" Seifer laughed bringing back his arm into an upraised punch. His hand was clenched tight and aiming for Riku's head. "Lights out pretty boy!"

"Seifer." Seifer stopped suddenly when he heard his voice. The girl behind Riku came forward staring blankly at him.

"Eh, Fuu? What are you doing over here?" Seifer looked at the girl, Fuu, but still had a tight grip on Riku.

"Not matter."

"Of course it matters! And are you bleeding!? I bet this guy here tried to assault you!" Seifer glared at Riku furiously, who had stopped struggling to twitch at Seifer and glare back at him for that remark. Fuu had a very blank expression as she stared at Seifer for being an idiot again. "Let me take care of this punk then we'll stop that bleeding." Fuu's eyes widened as Seifer was about to hit Riku, but Seifer stopped when someone called out to him yet again.

"YO! LUGNUT!" Seifer turned around quickly to see Axel with his hand on fire with serious look on his face.

"It's Pyro-dork! What you do you want, freak!? I'm busy here!" Seifer growled at Axel.

"Let go of 'pretty boy' there or else you get a face full of hot flames!"

"Just try it!" Axel raised his hand up to shoot his flames, but something grabbed his wrist WHILE it was still on fire!

"What's going on here?" It was Arya. She was holding onto Axel's lit up hand and glaring at Seifer. "Seifer, aren't you supposed to be the 'Twilight Disciplinary Committee', not the 'Let's Beat People Up Committee?'" Seifer twitched greatly at Arya, he really disliked her, but he wasn't about to go up against her. For a girl, she was pretty strong. Fuu took this distraction to carefully grab Seifer's fist. Seifer quickly looked at her still having a fierce look in his eyes.

"Too far." Seifer stared at her then looked at Arya then back to Fuu then back to Arya. Finally he let go of Riku and growled walking up and past Arya and Axel. Riku coughed greatly rubbing his throat. Fuu placed out her hand and Riku gladly took it. She helped him to his feet and blinked at him. "Alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine…" She nodded and bowed to him.

"Goodbye." She turned around and walked off in the direction Seifer went. Riku stared after her blinking, surprised. He's attention turned to Arya who was coming up to him.

"Trouble, trouble! That's all you are! I'm surprised Sora isn't with you two as well!" Arya sighed shaking her head. "Well whatever, just behave now will ya! I don't need you causing a ruckus like the Heartless!" Arya jumped up and grabbed a ledge on a building then she pulled herself up and over on top of the building. In seconds she was gone with Axel on the ground staring after her. Riku blinked, kind of still surprised then he noticed Axel's expression.

"Axel?" He asked coming up. "What's with that look?" Axel had a look of adoration on his face and in his eyes. Axel looked at Riku and placed the fire on his hand away. Arya, during the time when she was talking to Seifer, had been holding onto his wrist while it was still on fire. It amazed him greatly.

"Did you see that? She held my wrist while it was on FIRE! And she wasn't even afraid or even in pain! Though I do think she got burnt… Heck, if she isn't afraid of fire then she's dangerously hot!" Riku blinked several times at Axel then burst out laughing.

---oO0---o)0(o---0Oo---

"Aaah! I can't believe I missed that! Darn it!" Sora groaned in frustration. Riku grinned at him and stared up at the sky. They were at the top of the clock tower at Station Plaza. Axel had gone home after fixing up Riku's skateboard. Said he had "things" to take care of, but Riku knew exactly what he was going to try to do. Find out where that girl, Arya, lived!

"It's okay, I'm fine now." Riku said trying to make Sora feel better.

"Oooh if I was there I would have given that Seifer what he deserved!" Sora swung his fist forward. "A mouth full of broken teeth!" Riku laughed at Sora's enthusiasm and patted his back.

"Heh, maybe you will get to do that one day." Sora grinned at Riku then pointed to the sky.

"We better go Riku, I'd rather STOP getting in trouble with my parents!" Riku nodded and both of them walked down the stairs and toward Sora's house. They had no idea that the watchful eyes of Arya had been carefully guarding them; she had been just above them in the Clock Tower.

"It's not too late, they'll make it home safe." She nodded to herself and jumped off and in the direction of her own home. Unlike the other people that lived in Twilight Town, her home was a bit concealed. The reasons why they were out there secluded from others? Only her and her family knew. It was a house that was hiding behind the grassy hills just outside Sunset Hill. It gave Arya's family tranquility and time to relax and focus.

As Arya arrived home she bit her lip hard with her had starting to hurt again. When she had grabbed Axel's wrist earlier the fire in his hand had burnt her. At first she had grabbed it thinking it hadn't been real, but when she had grabbed his wrist she didn't want to let go fear of Seifer doing something stupid.

"Arya, you're home earlier." Arya looked up to see her mother, Tifa Lockheart. Tifa's expression was soft until she saw Arya's hand. "What happened?"

"I just got burnt a little, that's all." Arya shrugged it off like it was nothing and walked past her mother to go into the house, bur Tifa grabbed Arya's burnt hand making Arya flinch badly.

"Just a little burnt? Come on, Arya. Let me look at it."

"Fine, fine Miss Lockheart nurse." Tifa rolled her eyes and led Arya into the kitchen where Naminé was eating her dinner. She looked up surprised then her eyes widened, and she ran over to Arya who was now sitting down.

"What happened, Sis?" Naminé asked voice full of worry.

"Ah, nothing you-" Arya bit her lip hard as Tifa started to use ointment on Arya's hand. "Nothing you need to worry about. I just got burned by touching a Pyro-boy idiot." Naminé blinked.

"You mean… Axel?"

"Is that his name? Yeah the red-headed kid with spikes in every which way direction." Naminé giggled at Arya's remark then hugged her when Tifa was done patching up Arya's hand.

"There, now since it's healing you have to wait for a bit, you got that? That means no using you know what!" Arya's eyes widened.

"Whaaaat!? But that's not fair! I have a job to do!" Tifa stuck her finger at Arya.

"You don't need to do it every night, Arya. I think you can take a night off. How about you just eat your food and relax later… Okay?" Arya made a pouty face, but sighed and nodded to her mother.

---oO0---o)

Arya looked down from a top of the Clock Tower. It was comfortable and cool up here, plus she loved heights. She looked at her hand and made a face, upset again.

"I can't believe this! I won't be able to do anything about the Heartless tonight… Sigh…" She stared at the sky then noticed a small movement just around the corner on the same ledge as her. She looked to see notice it was the shadow of a person. "Uh… hello? Is someone there?" Her voice was calm and soothing. Very non-threatening and welcoming. The shadow figured turned to leave, but decided otherwise. The figure came into the light to show it they were.

It was Trinity.

Not that Arya knew that.

Arya blinked in surprised and made a slight smile at the girl. "Hi there." The girl looked shyly at her then came up next to her.

"Hello, ma'am…"

"Whatcha doing up here?" Arya gave a better smile at Trinity who couldn't help but smile back.

"I like it up here, I feel more at ease closer to the sky." Trinity looked at Arya, the question made her think of when that boy, Sora, was up here. He had asked the same exact question. "Weird, isn't it?"

"No way! I wish I was closer to the sky as well! I love heights almost more than anything, of course not more than my little sister!" Arya grinned big thinking about Naminé then she looked at Trinity. "I'm Arya."

"My name is Trinity." Trinity replied shyly.

"Aw! Really? Oh I love that name so much!" That made Trinity blush some. Arya looked around then jumped down to the ledge below. Trinity blinked when Arya beckoned her to follow. Carefully she came down and sat next to the standing Arya. "It's really nice up here tonight isn't it?" Trinity made a small nod and looked up at Arya. Arya was such an energetic person, very pleasant person. Trinity started to like her.

Arya made a small movement then held her head. She was already light-headed from the loss of blood from earlier, but since she had been moving around a lot she felt even more light-headed. Arya suddenly fell backwards and off. Trinity screamed and reached over to grab her, but didn't need to. Arya had grabbed the edge with her left hand, but unfortunately it was her burnt one.

"A-are you alright, ma'am!?"

"I'm fine! Don't move, Trinity!" Arya closed her eyes then pulled herself up with grace like she had done earlier that day. She landed on her feet perfectly like a cat, Trinity stood up relieved. "See, fine!" Arya smiled, but that expression didn't stay long.

She grimaced painfully as her hand started to hurt again. She looked down at it biting her lip hard. Trinity looked at it as well face full of concern.

It had started to bleed.


	10. Chapter 10: More Than One

Chapter 10: More than one

"Great...that stupid Axel..." Arya grunted. Looking up she noticed Trinity's head was still facing the opened wound. By the looks of it she had not even heard Arya's last remark. Arya gridded her teeth together even harder. If it was not bad before it sure as heck was now! "Heh, great my mom's gonna get me when she sees this."

"Hold still, I will help you." Trinity said gently. Closing her eyes she stuck out her hand and pause as if waiting for something to happen.

"What are you..." Arya began, but froze as a strong light covered the girls hand. 'That light...' she thought.

When the light faded an object was in Trinity's hands instead. But not just any 'object' It was yet another Keyblade. Arya's eyes widened. There was more of them?! This one was quite different from the one she had. The long bar of the Key was made of colorful church like glass. The top of the Key was silver as well as at the end. The part at the top where the blade for killing the Heartless was a bunch of blue and yellow flowers. They looked like Forget Me Knots. Towards the end where the handle bar was, was a bunch of white feathers in the shape of a heart. A long gold string to the end of the Keyblade had a pure white feather attached to it.

Was that a Key-chain?

Trinity carefully grabbed Arya's hand and placed the tip of the blade to where the bleeding was. Arya flinched from the touch but stayed quiet, wondering what she was planning to do. Trinity whispered "Cure" and a white light came out of the tip of the blade and covered Arya's hand. Arya started to relax. The pain was going away. When the light faded again the wound was not only healed but completely gone! Arya looked even more surprised. To think there was others like her with these Weapons.

Trinity withdrew her Keyblade and in a bright flash it was gone again. She smiled at Arya, as she let go of her hand. "Does it feel better?" she asked.

Arya nodded. "Y-yes. Thank you, Trinity." Arya looked worried when Trinity's eyes went slightly dim. "A-are you okay?"

Trinity rubbed her eyes. When she reopened them they were back to their normal brown color. "I'm fine." she said. "Its just whenever I use that I feel a little tired that's all." The same thing happens to Arya when she fights the Heartless with her Keyblade. How weird. Trinity could tell Arya had a lot on her mind after seeing that, so she continued to talk. "I...had this Key for as long as I can remember. It was in my sleep when I heard this pretty woman's voice call out to me in my dreams."

"A woman's voice?" Arya asked, getting more interested. Arya could remember hearing a woman's voice to the day she got her Keyblade.

Trinity nodded. "Yes...she said to me '//Forget-Me-Not. The Keyblade Of Life//'"

"Looks like we got a lot in common."

"Huh?"

Arya took out her Keyblade and showed it to Trinity. Trinity's eyes widened, when she saw it. "A woman's voice...I heard the same thing the day I got this. She said to me '//Eight Step. The Keyblade Of Entanglement.//' But hear I thought I was the only one." Arya stood up, feeling better than ever. The two of them walked down to the bottom of the Clock Tower and stood at the Plaza.

After a long pause Arya continued. "Your Keyblades power is Amazing. Mine cant heal like that, like yours can. It has a completely different power. Your really lucky."

"You think so?" Trinity asked.

"Of course." In the distance the sun started to set.

"I hafta go home now, kay?" Trinity said. "But it was nice meeting you." Arya stuck out her hand to Trinity for her to shake. Which Trinity gladly excepted.

"It was nice meeting you too. I'll see you tomorrow or something okay?" Arya smiled. "Walk home safe. Do you go to school at Twilight High?"

Trinity nodded. "Yes, just recently in fact."

"Me too." Arya said. "Then I'll see you later for sure." Arya and Trinity headed away from one another. Arya had a happy look on her face as she walked down the path for home.

This was going to be a good friendship. She could tell already. And the thought of there being more than one Keyblade made her wonder just how many more Keyblades there actually was out there. Just to be safe, Arya partly followed Trinity from the roof tops, making sure she got home safe before heading home herself.

Saturday morning came quickly.

At Riku's house.....

Demyx came shooting down the stairs, looking trilled as though he had won the lottery. "I'm heading out!" he called happily, carrying his Sitar with him as he went zooming past Zexion who was sitting on the couch reading peacefully.

Zexion did not want to ask WHERE Demyx was going cause he knew from experience Demyx was not gonna give him a straight answer. But as the oldest brother of the three, he HAD to know. "Where are you going..?" he asked drily.

"To go meet a friend!" was all Demyx said as he rushed out the door slamming it behind him.

Zexion sighed and putting his book down on his lap, hand within the book so he did not lose the page he was on. Just as he had guessed....not the answer he was hoping for. Going to go "Meet a friend" did not tell him much. Riku was already gone to, also to meet a friend.

At least he gave out his friends name. Just did not say when he was gonna be back or where he was going. Zexion--like most older brothers--worried greatly about his siblings as well as the rest of the family members. And with all the Heartless running around no one could really blame him.

He needed to be there more for them than what he was doing now, right? And besides all that, he just kinda missed them...ever since they were kids Zexion has not known a day without them. And after they got older he does not get to spend as much time with them.

Zexion was home by himself a lot. Their mother Yuffie and Dad Vincent were all at work. So he was getting pretty used to being by himself. Though he did not really enjoy it ALL the time. 'Guess it's time for another trip to the library!' he thought to himself, pretending to laugh.

Zexion's face went sour.

"Maybe I need to get a life..." he muttered, flipping his book back open as he continued to read.

Demyx hurried to the station plaza to meet up with Kairi. He had really wanted to hear her sing. Demyx had it in his mind of starting a band as well so he really needed a singer. Not to mention he just plain liked her. Kairi said she still did not know about singing.

Afraid she would not be any good but Demyx had a lot of confidence in her. He knew she could do it. And for now she only has to sing in front of Demyx, and not a big group of people. That at least made her feel better.

While checking his Sitar, making sure the strings were set right, he had nearly jumped at the sound of Kairi's voice as she came running up behind him calling his name.

"Morning Kairi!" Demyx greeted.

"Morning" Kairi replied, then bit her lip. "Umm...so...W-where should we go to start?" She asked still afraid of what she was gonna do.

"I was thinking we could go to Sunset Terrance, where the small water fall is at. Nobody really goes down there much." Demyx smiled. Kairi made a small nod, and smiled.

"Sounds good. Let's go."

At the waterfall....

Kairi stood up alongside the wall staring out into the grassy plain below. Still thinking about her singing as Demyx set up his Sitar.

"Dont be scared." Demyx smiled. "You'll do great!" Kairi could not help but smile back. "So, what song do you wanna sing?" Demyx had let Kairi pick the song they were to practice with. It made Kairi feel better since she knew the song and knew the notes for it. Kairi nodded and handed Demyx the music notes.

"This one" she replied. "This is one of my favorites."

Demyx begins playing, as Kairi takes a deep breath and starts.

"You're giving me too many things lately,

you're all I need,

you smiled at me and say:

Don't get me wrong I love you,

but does that mean I have to meet your father?

When we are older you'll understand

what I meant when I said "No,

I don't think life is quite that simple".

When you walk away

You don't hear me say:

Please, Oh baby, don't go.

Simple and clean is the way that

you're making me feel tonight

It's hard to let it go.

Hold me,

Whatever lies beyond this morning,

Is a little later on,

regardless of warnings the future

doesn't scare me at all,

nothing's like before.

Hold me,

Whatever lies beyond this morning,

Is a little later on,

regardless of warnings the future

doesn't scare me at all,

nothing's like before."

As the song ended Demyx jumped up, smiling happily at Kairi. "You! Are! Great!" he laughed. "I've never heard such a beautiful voice!"

Kairi's eyes sparkled with happiness. "R-really?! You really think so?"

"Of course!" Demyx said, causing Kairi to blush. "Next time your ready will try again, kay?"

"Okay" Kairi agreed. Then after a long pause, "Demyx..?"

"Yes?"

Kairi grabbed Demyx's hand, her blue eyes looking deeply into Demyx's. "Thank you."

Demyx's face turned red, smiling stupidly. "N-no problem."

Kairi let go of Demyx and started to walk off. "I'll see you later!" she called over her shoulder.

"Later." Demyx replied, waving his hand even long after she was outta sight. "You rock, Kairi."

"Hey, Riku?" Sora said, as the two of them were walked down Market Street.

Riku seemed in a bit of a daze since yesterday. Like his mind was in a completely different world. Which was not too far from the truth. He could not get his mind off Fuu. Why hang out with Seifer? She does not seem to like the guy much anyway. So why was she...

"RIKU!!" Sora called, waving his hands in front of Riku's face.

"Huh...What?" Riku blinked, snapping out of his trance.

"What's the matter?" Sora asked. "Your WAY to quiet today."

"Ah, it's nothing." Riku smiled. After a moment's pause Riku gave Sora a slap on the back and motioned for him to follow. The two headed down to the Sandlot. Riku looked carefully around making sure Seifer and his gang were not here than walked over to a building a put a hand on the metal door. "This is where we keep all our supplies for the Struggle matches, like the Struggle swords, and a bunch of other equipment for the big matches every year."

"Really?" Sora smiled.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, we hold the matches here in the Sandlot every year so everything gets placed in this building. I figure we can use the struggle swords to practice with for the time being until you can qualify to play in the games too. I already got the OK from the owner of the building so we can just go ahead and go in and grab a few swords."

"Sounds great!" Sora grinned. "This is gonna be easy!"

"Oh you think so?" Riku laughed. "How about you and me fight. One-on-one?"

"Your on!"

Sora got into his fighting position, preparing himself. Though it did feel weird to hold onto a fake sword like this. He was used to the Keyblade or his old wooden sword. This Struggle sword was so...weird...not very hard but not soft either. It was gonna take awhile for Sora to get used to it.

"You ready Sora?" Riku asked, then started to charge for him. "Cause if you want me to I'll hold back a little."

"No dont do that!" Sora huffed, swinging the sword towards Riku. "I'll just beat ya up worse! No holding back!"

"Right!" as the two started going at it, they were both unaware they were being watched. Though the person who was watching them was not bad at all or anything like that. As they continued to fight Sora suddenly lost balance dropping his sword as well. "Give up, Sora?" Riku asked with a smirk. "Cause your gonna need better foot work if you want to be the champ."

"I'll never give up!" Sora vowed, sliding his foot underneath Riku's legs, making him trip. "HA! How was that?"

"Not bad, not bad..." Riku admitted, giving Sora a light bop on the head with the struggle sword.

"Heh, looks like you two are enjoying yourself." came a voice.

Sora looked up, seeing his Uncle watching them both at a distance, giving a small wave.

"Hey Uncle--I mean Leon!" Sora called happily, getting back onto his feet, along with Riku. "Long time no see. Where have you been?" Leon walked over to the two of them with a small smile which soon faded into a light frown. Sora frowned too. 'Uh-oh...' he thought. 'Leon looks mad...'

"Never mind me, I want to know what you were thinking these past few days you have been here." Leon sighed. "Cloud and Aerith told me about you and Roxas..."

"Oh that...It's nothing Leon. We are fine now." Sora said rubbing the back of his head. "We are still in one piece."

Leon put a hand on his face, as though his head was hurting. "That's not the point..." After a moment he looked back up at Sora. "Anyway there was another reason I came to see you. Hows your Dad--my brother--Cloud doing?"

Sora shrugged. "A little uptight since we moved but fine...why?"

"I was just checking. There's a lot more than just the Heartless that's bugging your Dad." Leons face when dark. "I do trust you guys to take care of yourself. I really do. But I want you guys to stay alert. Even during the day."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Sora arched a brow.

"Its hard to explain Sora...Just...promise me if you ever feel in REAL danger, you'll let me or the others know." Sora nodded quickly and Leon smiled. "I'm gonna go see your Dad soon. I'm sorry I have not been checking in on you guys like I said I would. When I heard you kids got attacked I...."

"No, It's okay, Leon." Sora laughed. "I've been having too much fun with my new friends." Sora glanced over at Riku, who grinned at Sora's comment. Leon turned to leave waving 'good bye'. "I wonder..." Sora muttered, as Riku stepped up behind Sora. "What did he mean 'more than just the Heartless.'?"

"I would not worry too much for now Sora." Riku half laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "You might give yourself a headache."

Sora rolled his eyes. "Very funny!"

Roxas and Sora walked home together that evening, chatting about random stuff at first, but then Sora had brought up about what Leon said just as they reached the front door to their house.

"What could be worse than the Heartless? Other than who's ever sending them after us?" Roxas asked, unsure himself. Sora shrugged.

"Not sure...But I dont think Dad or any of the others are gonna tell us...I wonder what's up?" Sora took out his luck charm. "But with these Key-like things we just might be able to do something about it..."

Roxas shook his head. "Sora let's try to stay out of trouble for awhile, kay? We dont even know what these things are REALLY for...And I'm pretty sure no one else knows either." Roxas started to turn the handle to open the door. Sora blinked almost surprised.

"We dont..." Sora agreed. "But I think I know who does!" Sora took off down the street.

"Where--where are you going?!" Roxas hissed. Sora did not responded. Too far down the road. He was most likely going to go look for Arya. She was the only other person Sora knows had one of those Keys too. He needed to find her. Not that Roxas knew that. Roxas looked from the direction that Sora had took off in and the door to the house.

Cursing he ran after his brother, and towards the incoming darkness of the night.


	11. Chapter 11: Keyblades

Chapter 11: Keyblades

"Sora, WHO do you think would even be interested to know at this time of night?!" Roxas snapped, continuing to follow beside after his brother.

"This girl I met when me and Riku went on that tour together. She saved us from the Heartless. And it was late at night too. I figure we have a better chance getting to talk to her at night when she's out here."

"You mean IF she's out here!" Roxas grumbled. Sora just laughed and kept going. "Who is she anyway?"

"Arya" Sora replied.

Roxas blinked. "Hey I know her too! She really has her own Key too?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Sora and Roxas headed down many streets of the town, so far they were lucky not to run into any Heartless. But luck can only last for so long. "Sora I think we should head back." Roxas sighed. Not to mean he feared finding Heartless, knowing very well he could fight them like Sora, it's just if Cloud and Aerith knew they were not home...well...that would be a lot worse.

"Shh!" Sora hissed, pulling Roxas behind a wall. "You hear that?"

Roxas stayed quiet and looked around listening. There was something walking around on the tops of the roofs. It was no Heartless up there that's for sure. But whoever it was had the reflexes of a cat. Way more balanced than any mere human. And on the night he and Riku were saved the only one he knew that could jump onto buildings and walk up at such a high distance from the ground.... "I wonder..."Sora thought aloud. "Could that be..."

"Ah, Sora we got bigger problems now!" Roxas gasped, seeing Shadow Heartless gathering around though the shadows towards them. Roxas stood close to Sora, taking out the black crown as did Sora his lucky charm.

"So, um...let's see..." Sora began, looking at his charm.

"Whets wrong?" Roxas asked, trying to get the Key to transform.

"Does this thing come with a how-to-guide??" Sora asked sheepishly.

"You mean to tell me you dont know how you transformed your Key-thing the first time either?!" Roxas snapped.

"Umm...yes..?"

"You Klutz!!"

Arya was on one of the nearby roof tops when she heard Roxas voice from below. "I know that voice from anywhere..." she muttered, starting to jump down to where they were at.

Meanwhile Sora and Roxas were fighting the Shadows with their fists, though it was not working out very well. Sora shook his charm a few times. "Come on!" he yelled. "Transform! Please!" A shadow Heartless jumps at Sora, but Roxas manages to knock it away with his fist.

"Sora! Forget about the thing lets run! NOW!" Roxas yelled, grabbing Sora by his jacket hood and pulling him into a run.

"Wait, Roxas I think I almost got it!" Sora protested, wiggling free of Roxas's grip. Sora charged his way towards the Heartless,

holding the lucky charm in his hand as if it was already transformed. "Come and get me!" he challenged the Heartless.

"No dont!!" Roxas screamed.

"YOU STUPIED KID!!" came a voice from just above Sora, landing down in front of him. It was none other than Arya. She slashed the Shadow Heartless away with one whip of her mighty Keyblade. Killing them all instantly. She turned to face Sora with a look of anger on her face. "What's the matter with you kids?! Have you not learned your lesson from before?! Why do you keep coming out here at night?"

Before Sora or Roxas could answer more Heartless started to appear. "But Arya we can help! We were just coming to find you!" Sora said as Roxas made his way to Sora and Arya. "Me and Roxas have one of those Key-things too!"

Arya huffed as she started to kill off some more of the Heartless. "Please!" she laughed. "If you really have these 'Things' too you should know there called: Keyblades!" she had just got finished killing off the last Heartless within sight before she turned around and gave Sora and Roxas a annoyed look. "Till then I dont even wanna hear it! I--"

There was a loud rumbling noise from up ahead. Coming from the Station Plaza. The three turned to see more Heartless, bashing into the Clock Tower, as if trying to knock it down. "Sounds like Large Body's..." Arya muttered, turning to face the twins. "Go home, while I deal with the Heartless! You're lucky I dont take you home myself!"

With that Arya jumped on top of the roof tops and headed for the Plaza.

"Wait!" Roxas called, but she was to far outta ear shot to hear him. "Agh! She's right let's just go home Sora!" Roxas turns around to face his brother, but finds no one there. "Sora..?" Roxas blinked.

Arya just got finished killing off three different Large body Heartless, but they still kept on coming! "Darn it!" she growled. "Why are they suddenly attacking the tower now for??" Though it was not too weird. After all Heartless are very destructive anyway. Arya side-steps to avoid getting hit by yet another on-coming Heartless.

"Hang on Arya!" Sora's voice called, Keyblade transformed, as he jumped into the air and landed Oathkeeper down on a Heartless from behind Arya. Arya's eyes widened in shock, as she examined Sora's Keyblade. Sora grinned, as he got a look at Arya's puzzled face. "Believe me now?" he asked.

Arya did not really answer with words but pushed Sora aside to kill a Heartless from just behind him. "Keep your eyes on the battle field if your gonna fight with your Keyblade, Klutz!"

"R--right!" Sora stuttered, not wanting to know just what a close call he almost had. The two fought on together taking out all the Large Body's from the Plaza. "These things are pretty strong!" Sora gasped, out of breath.

"You just have not been fighting these things enough!" Arya called from a few yards away. "What did you get you Keyblade recently or something?"

"Well..." Sora grinned. He really did just get it recently. Sora yelped painfully as something rammed into his back. "A-Arya!" he called. As the Heartless picked him up by its claws. Arya looked over.

Air Soldier Heartless...Arya slashed the one that had a hold of Sora so it would let go, only for more to appear in its place. "Be more careful." she told him. "Or the next time--" Arya never got a chance to finish what she was about to say. A Large Body took advantage of the distraction and slammed into her hard, knocking her to the ground. Arya began struggling to get back on her feet as Sora rushed over to her.

But just as Sora got close, yet another Air Soldier came down and grabbed a hold of Sora and began lifting him into the air. "Agh!! Why do you Heartless like lifting me up for?!" Sora screamed, more annoyed than scared.

"Sora!" Arya yelled, killing the Large Body that knocked her down and began heading for Sora. Just as she began to raise her Keyblade to strike the Air Soldier something hit the Heartless from behind killing it instantly causing it to drop Sora. Sora landed on the ground with a thud. Arya and Sora both looked up staring into the face of Roxas, who looked VERY angry as he held his Keyblade in his hand. Oblivion.

"I figured out how these Keyblades work." he said with a huff. "You just gotta use your head..." Roxas helped his brother to his feet, giving Arya a small nod. With that the three of them continued to kill of the rest of the Heartless until they were all gone. By the time the fight was over both Sora and Roxas were on the ground panting hard.

"Man, fighting's tiring..." Sora gasped. "Even I dont remember getting this worn out when we were playing without wooden swords..!"

Arya laughed, catching her breath. "You silly kid! This is a REAL weapon! And your fighting REAL enemies. Of course your gonna get tired. Mainly also cause you're not used to fighting Heartless. You both need awhile to get used to it, that's all. And you think you feel tired now just wait...you have not even unlocked your Keyblades true powers yet. None of you have. Now that takes a lot of energy out of you."

"Have you?" Roxas asked.

Arya nodded. "Yes. Only I had no reason to use it this time." Mostly cause Roxas and Sora helped finish off the Heartless with her. Otherwise she would have needed to use it. "But each Keyblades power is different." she continued. "I so far know only one other person besides myself and you two that has a Keyblade also. And hers has a different power than mine."

"So if that's true you most know a lot about them then." Sora smiled.

"No, not really. Up until a while ago, I thought I was the only one who even had one."

Sora frowned. "Oh..."

Sora and Roxas managed to sneak back to their house that night without Cloud or Aerith noticing. They knew that this was not the last time they were gonna fight the Heartless. Arya promised to meet up with them later, telling them to be careful next time when fighting. Sora was just about ready to fall asleep right then and there on his bed, when Roxas started to talk.

"You know what this means dont you, Sora?" he asked from across the room on his bed.

"Hmm?" Sora mumbled, rolling over to go to sleep.

"We have a big responsibility now." Roxas said with a small smile.

"Uh-huh..." Sora yawned, falling asleep.

Roxas sighed, lying on his back and looking up at the ceiling. "I just dont think you know how BIG it is yet...but that's why you have me to look after you..." Roxas closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Now the only questions were, just how many other Keyblades are there? And where did they all come from?

That was gonna have to wait for another day....

The weekend had came and went in a flash. Before they knew it was Monday again. Sora and Riku were not looking forward to P.E. class. Today was one of the worse class work-outs yet...

Dodge ball...

"Hey Snotty, and Pretty-boy hope you're ready for this!" Seifer grinned, as he and Rai both had dodge balls in each of their hands. "Ah, revenge is sweet..."

"Yeah when we are done beating ya, even your clothes will be outta style, you know??" Rai snorted.

"I can't believe we have to go through with this..." Riku sighed, as he and Sora started to get into position.

"But there just made of rubber, right?" Sora asked. "They dont hurt that bad..." Gulping he began to regret saying that. "Do they..?"

Before Riku could answer that the gym teacher blew the whistle, signaling the start of the game. "Alright everyone get ready!" he shouted. "Get set...GO!"

Sora looked over at Seifer and Rai. It did not even take them a seconds delay, and they were already on them. The red rubber spheres coming at both he and Riku like bullets. "Gah! Sora run!" Riku yelled. Sora did not need to be told twice. The two boys began running in circles through the gym. In fact they were doing more dodging than fighting back.

"You'll never take me alive!" Sora called out, searching crazily for a dodge ball on the ground.

"You really should not give them ideas!" Riku warned him, as he attempted to distract Rai and Seifer's attention away from Sora. Which did not take much effort after Riku picked up a dodge ball and hit Seifer in the back of the head with it.

"YOU PUNK!!" Seifer roared.

"Ah, crud!" Riku yelped, running passed other classmates to get away from Seifer and Rai's attack, as countless dodge ball came flying at him. "Not good, not good!" Just then Riku saw a extra dodge ball on the ground. 'Perfect!' Riku thought, running up to it. 'Now here's my chance to--'

"Riku! Behind you!" Sora yelled. Seifer and Rai spotted Riku and threw four dodge ball's towards him. Riku could not react in time to get away, but just then Sora jumped in front letting the dodge balls hit him all at once up and down his back! Sora look like he was in a whole world of pain as he fell down onto his belly staring up at Riku as though he were dying. Which clearly he was not!

"S-Sora!" Riku kneeled down beside his fallen friend, while Seifer and Rai were busy trying to find some more dodge balls to throw at them.

"Riku, go on without me!" Sora pretending to sound very hurt. The faker! "I'm done for! Tell Roxas if I dont make it that when we were seven years old...Tell him...tell him that I was the one who put peanut butter in his pillow case!"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Get a hold of yourself!"

"Times up pretty-boy!" Seifer howled. Riku yelped and made a run for it. He did not get very far though. He'd lost track of Rai and ended up bumping into him. The impact sent Riku onto his back. Now he was at the mercy of Seifer and Rai!

Riku sighed. "Great..." he mumbled. "Just great!"

"Surrender Pretty-boy?" Seifer asks, tossing a dodge ball in his hand up and down.

"To you? Never." Riku laughs, as though it were a stupid question.

"Lights out then!" Seifer snorts, as he and Rai take aim. Suddenly another rubber dodge ball come out from behind and hits Rai on the back of the head, knocking him to the ground. Seifer turns around Riku looks up. "F-Fuu?!" Seifer growls. "What was that for?!"

Fuu does not really say much, instead she takes aim again and lands a second dodge ball right in Seifer's face. Seifer falls backwards into Rai, stunned. Riku blinked surprised. He had completely forgotten Fuu was in gym class too. Getting up Riku smiled rubbing the back of his head as Fuu started to walk right towards him.

"That was really good Fuu!" he grinned. "I did not know you could throw like that!" Fuu turned and glared at Riku. Riku gulped, as she started to walk over to him holding one last dodge ball in her hands. Riku winced thinking she was gonna hit him with it. But instead she just gently tossed the ball to him, smiling as she passed him.

"Even." She said, walking out the gym door.

Riku grinned weakly. 'Wow'

Sora and Kairi walked home together that evening. Kairi seemed to have her mind on something else though.

"What's up?" Sora asked.

"Ah, nothing!" She replied. "I just have not seen much of you or Roxas so I've been hanging out with a new friend for awhile now."

"Really? Well...I just been busy with uh..." he did not want to worry her about the Heartless. "Things"

"'Things?'" Kairi laughed. "Yeah, that does not tell me much. Oh well...anyway I'm gonna go see my friend Demyx tomorrow. He said he had a new song that I could practice singing. Once he writes down all the notes for it."

"You? Singing? That's something new." Sora giggled.

Kairi put her hand to her hips glaring at Sora. "You guys are the one who would not listen to me back on the islands remember?!"

Sora's eyes widened. "R-right! now I remember! heh, heh..." Sora stopped and looked over his shoulder. He blinked seeing a brown haired girl walk by. Sora knew instantly who it was. "Trinity..?"

"Huh?" Kairi asked, turning to face what Sora was looking at. "Oh, I've seen her around too. Have you met?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah! Um..do you mind if I go see her really quick? There's something I need to talk to her about."

Kairi waved good-bye to Sora and began to walk away. "Yeah, go ahead. I've got homework to finish off anyway. Bye Sora!"

"Later!" Sora called back. Sora turned to head for Trinity, but the moment he did she was gone again. "'Huh? Where...did she go?" Sora started off into space. The only way she could have disappeared that fast without anyone noticing would be if...Sora looked over at the hole in the wall.

Did she just go in there?


	12. Chapter 12: Zera's Mansion

Chapter 12: Zera's Mansion

Sora paused at the entrance to the hole in the wall. Unsure to go in or not. Riku had told him it was not a safe place. Was it cause of the Heartless? Then again Riku never said it was Heartless in there. Not like he did about the tunnels. Why was Riku so freaked out about this place? Being brave Sora took out Oathkeeper and headed inside.

It did not take long for him to reach the other side of the hole. When he did he found a huge forest. Which only made Sora wonder more...Why DID she come in here?? Sora gave his Keyblade a few practice swings than walked around trying to find Trinity. It did not take long before he found her heading up farther into the forest.

"There she is!" Sora cleared his throat and began running towards her. "Heeey!" he called.

Trinity turned at the sound of Sora's voice. She was mainly surprised cause she did not think someone would follow her all the way out here OR the fact that Sora still had Oathkeeper in his hands. Either way she smiled when she saw him. "Oh, hey Sor--" She stopped suddenly, eyes widened. "No dont! Stop!" she yelled.

Sora arched a brow. Was she talking to him? Just then something landed behind Sora. Whoever it was had quick reflexes. Sora did not even have time to react with Oathkeeper, before the figure pulled something sharp and placed it near the flesh of his throat. Sora froze. Fear gripped him like death.

"If you even make so much as an inch," the attacker warned. "Kill you right here and now!"

Sora gulped, and looked over at Trinity, who was making her way over to him. "Trinity! No! Go back!" Sora told her. Not wanting her to get attacked as well. However Trinity did not turn away, she just kept coming.

"Zera! Dont hurt him!" Trinity cried. "He's not a Heartless or nothing!"

"This kid has a weapon." the attacker named Zera huffed, not once letting her weapon down. "He looked like he was about to attack you." Sora could not see Zera's face from his position, but he could tell it was a woman's voice.

"He would never!" Trinity shook her head.

"I-I came here to s-see Trinity, c-c-cause I got worried about he-her that's all." Sora stuttered. Soon Sora could feel the sharp weapon near his neck being pulled back. Sora exhaled deeply, and turned around to face his attacker.

She must have been much older than Trinity. She had black eyes and matching black hair that was in a pony-tail. A very LONG pony-tail. She wore a red long sleeved kimono and red pants. Her boots were long and black and reached up all the way to her knees. and she wore a small pair of black gloves. The woman must have been at least in her 30's or so but still for that age she looked pretty good.

"Sorry about that." She smirked. Though she did not sound like she meant it.."And here I thought you were going to hurt Trinity." she gave Sora a dark stare. "But what is with that weapon your carrying?"

"What about yours?" Sora blinked. Zera's weapon was called a Ring-blade. It was round like a hula hoop but still sharp as a knife.

Zera gave Sora a bop on the head. And she did it hard. Enough to make Sora yelp. "I asked you first, kid!"

"Ze-Zera..." Trinity sighed.

"I-I...I" Sora was not sure what to say at this point.

"Well...you dont seem bad...Sorry about the scare." she sighed putting her Ring-blade away. "But next time your planning on sneaking into an unknown area, be sure to keep your guard up chump."

Sora stared at Zera dumbfounded. So this is why Riku said it was not safe here. This woman must live nearby. "Are you like this to all of your guests that come through here?" Sora asked, stepping away from Zera, as if she might hit him again.

Zera shook her head. "I'm just not the trusting type. You dont look like your that strong anyway."

Sora growled. "Whaaat? Take that back!"

"Sora, Dont make her angry. She's not a bad person." Trinity spoke up. Trinity turned to face Zera. "I met Sora, not too long ago. When I was on the Clock Tower." That's as far as Trinity would say. Not wanting to bring up how Sora nearly fell off. Trinity turned and faced Sora again. "Umm, Sora...I was just on my way home."

"Oh." Sora grinned. "So you do live down here."

Trinity nodded. "Uh-huh. I live with Zera. She's my Te-uh, I mean M-Mother..." Trinity seemed to have a hard time saying 'Mother' for some reason.

"Really?" Sora blinked, looking over at Zera, who had her eyes on the ground, looking rather sad all of a sudden.

After a moment of silent's Trinity spoke again. "Would you like to see her house? It's really cool. Its actually a mansion!" Zera looked up after hearing that, and faced Trinity unsurely.

"Trinity...are...are you sure?" she asked eyes narrowing at Sora with a hint of anger in them. Sora gulped.

Trinity nodded. "Yes."

Zera sighed. "Okay, fine. He does not seem like a bad kid...just kind of stupid..." Sora's jaw dropped as Zera passed him. "Come along kid, you dont want to be left behind do you?"

"R-right!" Sora said, hurrying beside Trinity as they continued, to walk within the forest. Trinity faced Sora as they walked and gave him a small nod, as if to say: "Thanks"

When Sora first arrived, his first thoughts were on just how big the house--mansion--was. Though some parts of it did seem a little wore down. It must have been here for years. Stone pillars in the front of the mansion were broken. Some worse than others and covered in moss. Zera lead the way to the door and started to open it.

"Whoa..." Sora gasped, when he saw the inside. Towards the end of a long hall Was a clear back door to the mansion's garden. Sora could not see it well from the front door, but could see tons of blue flowers from there at least. Whatever type they were he had no idea. From the sides of the building were two stair-ways. Each leading to a different room. The bottom floor however contained only two rooms as well. (Not including the garden)

Trinity grabbed Sora's hand and lead him to the room to the left. "I'll give you a short tour, kay?" Sora just nodded and smiled. Not wanting to look back at Zera, who was watching him like a hawk. "This is the dinning/kitchen room. Heh, not much else to say there." Trinity pointed over to the room across the other side of the mansion. "That's the guest bedroom. The room up the stairs to the left is my room--"

"And you are not to go in there with Trinity without my permission is that clear?!" Zera snapped suddenly at Sora.

"Y-yes ma'am!" Sora yelped.

"Anyway..." Trinity continued. "The stair-way to the right of the mansion leads to the library, and beyond that is Zera's room--"

"Go in there and I will kill you..." Zera huffed at Sora.

"Zera..." Trinity sighed. "Oh, and the other rooms within the house are just the bathrooms."

"You have a nice home, Trinity." Sora remarked. "How long have you guys lived in Twilight Town? Me and my family just moved here recently."

"I've lived here all my life." Zera said. "And Trinity...Well she...never mind."

"Huh?" Sora blinked.

Trinity fell silent, a frown passing over her face.

"Was it something I said?" Sora asked confused.

"No, no...I'm just not sure how to answer that one." Zera said surprisingly gently.

"Huh?" Sora repeated. "If you are Trinity's mother she must have lived here all her life to with you, right?"

Trinity froze, looking over from Sora to Zera as though wanting to say something but could not get the words out. Finally she cleared her throat and smiled again. "I'm gonna go check on something, and I'll be right back, kay?" Zera nodded as Trinity made her way to the back yard garden, closing the screen door behind her.

"Umm, I'm not quite sure what I said wrong..." Sora said putting his hands behind his head.

"No, it's not your fault, Sora" Zera smile lightly. "Anyway, Trinity told me a little about you. I will say I'm sorry for attacking you. I did not know you were the kid she met at the Station Plaza."

"I-its okay!" Sora laughed. 'Strange...Zera seems a lot nicer than before...'

"Oh there is one more thing I want to ask you Sora..."

"Yes..?"

"That Keyblade...let me see it."

"But I...I can't just--" Sora did not really want her to see it. He figured by now she would have completely forgotten about it. But once he saw the anger raising in Zera, he thought otherwise.

"Show it." Zera glared.

"Y-yes..." Sora again took out Oathkeeper. Zera's eyes widened with interest. After carefully looking it over she nodded as a sign Sora could put it away. Her face lightened again

"I see...Your just like Trinity...another Keyblade too..."

"Trinity has a Keyblade??"

"Yes, but...if that's the case..." Zera's voice trailed off as Trinity came back in.

"Sorry it took me so long!" she laughed, smiling brightly.

"Its okay." Sora could not help but smile back. Then he looked out towards the garden where Trinity had come in from and looked up at the sky. "AHH! I need to get home! Mom and Dad's gonna kill me if I'm late again!"

"Alright." Zera agreed. "You need some help out of the woods? I can show you back out if you like."

"That's a good idea..." Sora laughed sheepishly, as he did not fully understand this area just yet.

"Trinity, you stay here. I'll be back in a sec." Zera told her. Trinity nodded quietly.

"Be safe." Trinity called, as Zera and Sora headed out the door. "I'll see ya tomorrow!"

"Okay, that's a promise!" Sora called back, all and all still smiling.

Back at the entrance to the hole Zera began to turn away and head back for the woods. Sora had a ton of questions for her, but he was to afraid to ask. She did not seem to be in the mood. After seeing Sora's Keyblade and all...

"Sora." she called turning to face him. "Next time you plan on coming by, be sure to let someone know first. I'd hate to mistake you for a enemy and attack you again. Understood?" she sounded serious. "I dont want anything happening to Trinity."

"Yes ma'am" Sora nodded. 'I won't let anything happen to her either.'

"Sora! There you are!" came another voice. Sora turned seeing Riku running up to him. He gasped and stared wide-eyed at Zera. "Ah, Sora! What are you doing over there?! Did I not tell you that place is..." he gulped as Zera look at Riku with a glare.

"You WANT me to show you TRUE danger boy??" Riku backed away.

"Uh, so I was right huh, Riku?" Sora laughed, quickly heading over to Riku. "She's why you think these woods are so bad?" Riku nodded. In truth a lot of people feared Zera. Being so tough with others. But Sora knew she had a good heart. Riku could tell Zera was angry. Sora's late comment struck her as rude.

"I'm that bad huh?" Zera grumbled, with a angry smile, as she took her Ring-blade out and pointed it at Sora and Riku, who backed up even further. Zera raised her Ring-blade up in the air and started to charge for Sora and Riku. "I'LL SHOW YOU BAD, YOU KIDS!!" Riku grabbed Sora's arm and made a mad dash away, taking Sora with him.

By the time Riku and Sora were a fair distance away, they finally came to a halt.

"You know something Riku?" Sora panted. "I think we'd better be careful next time, shall we?"

"Yeah..."

Riku's House...

"Zexion! Demyx! Riku! It's time for dinner!" Yuffie called from the kitchen. "Hurry up before it gets cold!"

Zexion was at his normal spot. On the couch. He muttered a silent "Okay" and started to stand up. He sniffed the air, as he saw a small puff of smoke leaving the kitchen. "Smells like Mom burnt the gravy again..."

Vincent just walked in through the front door, eyeing Zexion for a sec. "Where's your brothers?" he asked gruffly. Zexion shrugged.

"I can never keep track of them..."

"ZEXY!" Demyx wined suddenly, coming down the stairs looking sad.

"Well...There's one..." Vincent sighed, heading in the kitchen.

Zexion sighed. "What is it now, Demyx?" by the look on Demyx's face he already had a good guess what he was going to say. "Dont tell me...you lost your music notes again?" Demyx nodded, giving out puppy eyes. "Augh...quit bothering me with the same thing! They must be in the closet like they were the last time..."

"But there not! I already checked." Demyx clinged onto Zexion like a little kid. Which only annoyed Zexion to no end. "I just got finished writing it today at school! It's for my friend Kairi! Please help me find it! I WANNA SHOW HER, ZEXY!!"

"Quit crying! Get off!" Zexion roared. "And quit calling me Zexy, darn it!!"

"Zexion be nice to your brother!" Yuffie snapped, coming outta the kitchen with a bowl in her hands.

"You two need to be a little closer than that...like brothers should." Vincent added. "That goes for Riku too..."

"Speaking of which...Where is Riku?" Yuffie asked. Zexion was about to answer, when Riku suddenly came through the door. "Ah, there you are. Wash up and get ready for dinner."

"Okay." Riku replied. He noticed Zexion and Demyx and shrugged. "You two okay?"

"Dont ask." Zexion said roughly, glaring at Demyx, brushing him off and heading inside the kitchen.

"Ri-Ri I lost my notes! It's really important that I find them. What you help me look??" Demyx asked sadly. "Cant remember where I put them."

"Sure, Demyx..." Riku sighed.

Demyx and Riku headed into the kitchen as well. But Demyx could not get rid of the feeling that he left his music note somewhere other than the house.

But where..?


	13. Chapter 13: Guardian Soul

Chapter 13: Guardian Soul

"Demyx, we have been looking for hours..." Riku sighed, staring out into the night sky through the living room window. "Maybe, you lost it somewhere else...Cause I dont think it's here..."

"Bu-but it has to be here!" Demyx cried. "I gotta find them...for Kairi..."

"Oh give it a rest!" Zexion shouted, from the couch, then opened up a book and continued to read. Riku rolled his eyes at Zexion. Zexion REALLY needed to be nicer to his little brother...

It had only been awhile since dinner ended, and yet not a signal note could be found. Riku and Demyx together must have torn up half the house trying to find them. Riku, all though he did not like Zexion's mood at the moment had to agree on one thing...maybe they should give it a rest for now.

"Why dont we look some more tomorrow, Dem?" Riku smiled, noggin a unhappy Demyx in the shoulders.

"I guess Ri-Ri..." Demyx sighed.

Yuffie watched sadly as Demyx made his way up-stairs, then turned to Vincent, who merely shrugged. The both of them had no idea what to do. "Try to cheer up, Honey!" Yuffie called up to Demyx. But when Demyx gave no answer she sighed.

Demyx got to his and Riku's room and collapsed onto his bed. He and Riku shared rooms, much so like Sora and Roxas shared there's. Zexion, being the oldest, got to have his very own room.

Mumbling to himself, he rolled over, onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. "Where could they be..." he wondered. Closing his eyes he started to back track from how his day had been. Trying to give himself an idea of the last time he had saw his notes.

--Flash Back-- ((Only to this after noon))

Demyx was in Music class, alongside Kairi. Though, Demyx's mind was not on his Sitar. He was working hard on writing a certain song for a certain someone. Kairi turned and glanced over at Demyx with interest. She knew Demyx was up to something...What was it?

"What are you doing, Demyx?" she asked sweetly.

The moment Demyx heard her voice he quickly hid the papers behind his back as she looked over trying to see. "Ah, n-nothing!" he laughed.

Kairi put her hands to her hips and got ever closer to Demyx. She knew him better than that. "Oh, come on show me."

"But I--"

"Mmmm?"

"I--" Demyx gulped.

"Mmmmmmm?" Kairi kept a smile on her face.

Demyx sighed. "Okay...you win...but I dont wanna show it to you just yet, kay? I'm working on a new song for you." Demyx blushed after saying that, as he placed the notes just behind him on his seat for safe keeping. "Its so nice I think you might like it....Maybe anyway..."

Kairi giggled and nodded. "Heh, okay!" she smiled. "And yeah, I know I'll like it!"

"R-really?" Demyx blinked, unsure. "You really think so..?"

Kairi patted Demyx on the shoulders and stood up. "I do." The bell to class started to ring. "Oh, it's time for lunch. Wanna take a break? I dont want you working too hard, kay?"

Demyx nodded and stood up. "Yeah! O-of course!" Kairi smiled and took Demyx by the hand and started to lead him out of class. Demyx continued to blush, even long after Kairi let go of his hand.

--End Of Flash Back--

Demyx had a blush back on his face just thinking about Kairi again. "Oh, Kairi..." he smiled as though in a daze. Then suddenly he froze. Eyes snapping open, as he quickly sat up. "Oh no! T-th-the notes! There still back at school!!" Demyx shot up outta bed and ran for the door. "I gotta get them back!" he told himself. "I gotta head back for school--"

Demyx opened the door and ran straight into Riku, who was just about to come in. Riku fell to his back taking Demyx with him.

"Demyx..? Might I asked what you're doing..?" Riku grumbled, most likely upset.

"I know where my notes are, Ri-Ri!" Demyx said as he and Riku got back to their feet.

"Ah, that's great." Riku smiled, but soon frowned when he noticed Demyx's sad face. "What's wrong now?"

"Well there...at the school..." Riku's jaw dropped. "I gonna go get them--"

"No you're not!" Riku snapped. "Its dark outside, and schools closed for the night! Can't you wait until tomorrow?"

"No, I can't!" Demyx wind. "By the time I get there in the afternoon some student or the teacher might find them and throw them away!" Demyx looked down at the ground. "Please, Ri-Ri..." Demyx clinged to Riku's arm. "PLEASE!!!"

"Augh...You know Mom and Dad would never allow it. They dont like us going out there at night." Riku told him, then giving a loud moan he crossed his arms. He was not sure about Zexion though. As far as Riku knew, Zexion would care less where they go, but maybe, just maybe...."Alright Dem...but we gotta leave without Mom or Dad knowing kay?"

Demyx's face brightened. "Oh thank you big brother!"

Riku put a hand over Demyx's mouth. "Shh!" he hissed. "We gotta be quiet and stealth-like. Got it?" Demyx made a hyper nod, smiling so hard Riku could feel Demyx's teeth. Riku quickly let go and motioned for Demyx to follow him. They could not very well just go out through the front door. And as much as Riku did not like doing stuff like this to his parents, he felt like he did not have much choice now...

Riku took Demyx into their bedroom and began fixing there bed covers into a rope. Just long enough to go from the bed to the window and all the way to the ground below, outside the house. Thing was they had to be careful. The rope was hanging just in front of the kitchen window, down below them. Yuffie and Vincent were down there now, washing dishes.

Riku tested the rope. Making sure it would hold, then started to climb down. "Okay Demyx. Let's go." he called. Although Demyx feared heights, he made a trembling nod and climbed down with Riku. By the time Riku reached the ground,--Just barely avoiding being seen by Vincent who looked out the window for a small second,-- He looked up and noticed Demyx had come to a stop. Right in front of the window too.

Riku cursed and shouted at Demyx to keep going, and that he'd be seen. But Demyx, being too afraid to move any further whimpered softly holding onto the rope for dear life. "Demy! Come down! Come down now!"

"I can't!" Demyx cried. Poor kid was frozen stiff.

"Yes you can!" Riku protested. "Demyx come on! You can do it!"

"But I--" Demyx began, turning to look down at Riku. However upon seeing the ground from so far up Demyx lost his grip and started to fall, yelling as he did so. Thankfully something soft broke his fall. Too bad it was Riku. Demyx blinked when he realized he was still alive. "That was not so bad!" he laughed.

"...My back..." Riku moaned, but he had to quickly get up and pull Demyx into the bushes as Yuffie opened the kitchen window and gazed outside.

"Huh, that's odd...I thought I heard a scream..." Yuffie said confused. After a second she reclosed the window.

Riku rubbed his back and stood up, half glaring at Demyx. "We are NEVER doing that again..." Demyx rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

So he says...

Demyx and Riku slowly made their way to the school. It was very dark now and quiet. Together they went from side-to-side of the building, until they found a window leading up to the music room. They did not dare go into the building though the entrance. A security guard could be lurking the halls for all they knew.

"Stay here!" Riku told his younger brother. as he climbed the school walls. He did not want Demyx to get hurt if he fell again, or himself. Riku was a good climber. As a kid he used to climb trees all the time. Now he was an expert. Carefully as he neared the window he opened it and slid inside. It was pitch black in the class room and he ended up stumbling around making all sorts of noise before finding the notes. Cursing all the while after stumbling from nearby desks that stood in the way.

Good climber Riku was. Stealthy he was not!

"I got them!" Riku called silently from the window down to Demyx, who at this point was jumping up and down with happiness.

"Your the best Ri-Ri!" Demyx smiled. "Thank you."

Riku merely nodded with a small grin and began to climb back down. ((That is of course AFTER he put all the desks and what not back in order.)) "No problem." Riku replied once he got back to Demyx.

"I owe you big time big Brother!" Demyx said, taking the notes as Riku handed them to him.

"Nah, forget about it." Riku shook his head. "Lets just get home before someone realizes were missing."

"Zexion...I know you better than that..." Vincent sighed, sitting down on the couch next to his son Zexion. "Why can't you just try and be there for them..?" Vincent is talking about Riku and Demyx.

"I have tried!" Zexion protested. "I dont know what I haven't done not to!"

"Zexion, that's just it. I want you to without being too over protective. That's just gonna end up pushing you away if you try too hard. But you snapping at them--mainly Demyx--is only gonna make things worse."

"Yeah, I guess..."

"And besides..." Yuffie added. "Demyx and Riku, as younger brothers look up to you. You dont want to let them down do you?"

"....No."

Yuffie looked up at the clock. "If they're not already asleep, why dont you bring them down and tell them yourself. This would be a good chance to patch things up."

Zexion nodded glumly. "Okay...Your right." As he started to head up stair he shivered slightly at a small draft coming from Riku and Demyx's room. "Hmm..?" Zexion peered around the frame of the door and looked in. His mouth fell a thousand miles when he saw the empty room. "Huh?!" Zexion looked down the hall. The bathroom door was wide open, so neither of them were in there.

Dashing into the room, it did not take long for him to spot the bed sheets sticking out the window down to the ground below. "Oh, no..." he shook his head. "Oh dear god I'm gonna kill them!"

"Is something the matter, Zexion?" Yuffie called from down stairs. Zexion froze. As much as he wanted to tell her and Vincent, he somehow could not bring himself to do it.

"E-everything's fine!" Zexion called back, then turned and relooked at the window as he made his way over to it. 'I've got to find them!' he told himself. He raised one leg over the window, about ready to climb down, then stopped and looked down. 'What am I doing!?' Then he suddenly pulled the sheets back up and closed the window, and ran out the bed room door, shutting it behind him and went down stairs.

"How did things go?" Yuffie asked, seeing Zexion make a mad dash for the front door.

"Where are you going?" Vincent asked.

"Riku and Demyx are asleep! I'm uh, heading for the library!--O-overdue book to turn in!" Zexion did still have a book in his hands too!

"Well okay. Just be careful and--" the door slams shut before Yuffie could finish.

"Hmm..." Vincent muttered.

"Once I know there okay..." Zexion told himself. "I' gonna kill them!" Zexion ran blindly down the streets, panting tiredly but not wanting to stop. He was scared out of his mind. Face pale from being so worried.

Riku and Demyx were not too far away too. Demyx was the first to hear Zexion's calls, as he shouted their names. "Hey Ri-Ri? Did you hear that?"

"Hmm..?" Riku looked around. "That could not be...Zexion?"

"Ah! Ri-Ri! Behind you!!" Demyx shouted, pushing Riku away as something BIG approached. Riku looked over at the Heartless that was coming ever closer. It was green blob-like Heartless with tenicals sticking out everywhere. Like something that just came out of the sewers. ((Dont bother trying to guess which Heartless this is, I made it up!))

"Demyx!" Riku called. Fearing for his brother safety Riku charged over to where he was and grabbed his arm and started to lead him away. However the Blob Heartless with its long tenicals, gave them one hard hit in order to divide them. Riku landed on his back heavily, trying to get back up. Demyx on the other hand was coming over again towards Riku. "No, Demyx! Stay back!"

"But Ri--" Demyx never got a chance to finish as the blobs tenicals struck him hard again and sent him crashing into the brick wall behind him. Demyx yelped slightly as his eyes dimmed and as he hang his head. "Ri-Riku..." he moaned. "Get...away..."

"I'm not leaving you Demyx!" Riku cried, getting up. "Just hang in there okay?!"

"Riku...ugh!!!" Demyx head shot up. The Heartless tenicals still had a hold of Demyx and was crushing him into the wall, slowly killing him.

"NOO!!" Riku ran up and started to hit the Heartless with his bare hands. "Let him go! LET! HIM! GO!!"

"Riku! Demyx!" came a voice from the distance. Riku turned around seeing his older brother coming straight for them. He had took the destruction in with one glance and came to Riku and Demyx's aid. Zexion had a look of pure fear, mostly when he saw Demyx's current state.

"Zexion get back!" Riku barked, turning his back to the Heartless. "Or the Heartless will--" Riku felt another tenicals of the Blob smack him on the back like a whip, sending him crashing onto his belly, with full force of it crushing him as it was doing Demyx.

"That does it!" Zexion roared, charging the Blob. "Get away from my brothers!!"

"No dont!" Riku called, but Zexion was not listening. He ran up to the Heartless and began hitting it with his book. Weak as that was he did not really have anything else to hit it with.

"How do you like that?!" Zexion yelled crazily. "Ugh!!" The Blob pick Zexion up into the air and began strangling him. Riku's eyes widened. Though in pain, Zexion looked down at Riku and smiled sadly. "Forgive me you guys...agh...I'm so sorry...This is all...all my fault..."

"Zexion..." Riku said surprised.

Zexion continued. "I have not been much of a older brother...I should have been there for you guys...I'm sorry...." Zexion had tears running down his cheeks. "I know I should have before...I do care...but I...agh...I guess this is it..." Riku shook his head struggling even more to get free. "I'm sorry both of you..." Zexion gridded his teeth together to keep from shouting from pain. "If I could...If I were able...I would change and be better to you both...but now...now it looks like I won't have...a chance..!"

"Zexion, no!" Riku gasped. "ZEXION!"

Just then...It started happening again. The same bright blinding flash, something forming in his hand, and...the woman's voice.

//Guardian Soul. The Keyblade Of Protection.//

Riku opened his eyes to find a long thick Keyblade with black and red designs on it. It looked quite powerful. On the Key-chain it had a silver stone. ((I know in the game the key-chain is really a water jug, but this sounded better, Sorry! XD ))

Riku acted quickly and sliced the tenicals that was keeping him pinned down, and got to his feet. He made quick glances to Demyx to Zexion. Demyx was unmoving and appeared limp. While Zexion was still struggling. Without a moment to lose Riku made a jump up to the tenicals holding Demyx and cut him free.

As Demyx's body started to fall Riku hurried and landed just below him and caught him. The blob roared. Gripping Zexion even harder. Riku had no time to lose, dashing over and laying Demyx as far away as he could from the Heartless he came back just as quickly and set Zexion free as well.

"Zexion, take Demyx and run!" Riku called over his shoulder as he started to fight the blob with his new found Keyblade.

"No." Zexion said simply. "I think you forget who's the oldest here." Zexion went to where Demyx laid. "I'm not leaving without EITHER of you two, you got that brother?"

Riku smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I hear ya." Riku jumped up and hit the Blob on the head over and over again. Dodging its tenicals at the same time. The more the Blob continued to fight back the harder Riku fought. Riku was at one point getting tired and needed to end the fight as quickly as possible. Jumping up again he sliced the Blob down the middle with all his might. The Blob roared weakly as it began to die, welting away into nothing.

Riku--feeling a since of victory--collapsed to his knees, panting heavily. "Riku! Are you okay?!" Zexion called. Riku lifted up his head and simply smiled. Then slowly got up and went over to Zexion and Demyx.

"Hows Demyx?" Riku asked. Demyx's head laid on Zexion's lap.

"He's okay." Zexion replied, ruffling up Demyx's hair. "His wounds will heal, there not as bad as they could have been. He just mostly got the wind knocked outta him."

"Thank goodness..." Riku sighed, kneeling down next to Zexion. Just then Demyx started to stir. Slowly opening his eyes and gazing around at Riku and Zexion confused. "Demyx..? How do you feel?" Riku asked. He wondered how much of the fight Demyx could remember or if he had saw the Keyblade too. And he just plain was happy to see him awake.

"Zexy..? Ri-Ri..?" Demyx said smiling dizzily.

Zexion nodded happy. "Yes! Were here Demy. It's us."

Demyx laughed. "Are we still...gonna be in trouble...for leaving home..?"

Riku and Zexion both busted out laughing as well. Was that all Demyx could think about? "Come on lets go home." Riku said as he and Zexion helped Demyx to his feet and started to lead him home. Riku's Keyblade had already transformed back and was now just the silver stone. He had carefully put it in his pocket for later.

"Demyx, you and Riku are too much for me sometimes." Zexion said--All the while still smiling.

In the end when they got home, Yuffie and Vincent were asleep and they could easily sneak back into the house. Zexion promised not to say ANYTHING about that night.

And Zexion could finally be the better bigger brother that he had always wanted to be.

"Hey Zexy!" Demyx cheered.

"AH! Demyx!" Zexion roared. "Cut that out! Let go!!"

Well...no one's perfect...They'll get along again....

Heh...one of those days....

The next day at school.

Sora walked down the halls, stopping just in front of the P.E. room, waiting for Riku. He did not dare go in alone with Seifer and Rai waiting inside. After a bit he saw Trinity come running past him carrying a bunch of boxes in her arms. They were awfully big and looked very heavy. She had about four of them all together stacked up. Could she even see where she was going?

"Trinity, need any help?" Sora asked. Trinity came to a halt, turning around when hearing his voice. Her knees were shacking from the weight of the boxes. She poked her head from around the to look at Sora. She was sweating slightly all around her face.

"N-no, I've got them. Its o-okay." she said.

"Are you sure? What are all those for anyway?" Sora asked worried. Not only was she carrying the weight of those four boxes, but she was also carrying the weight of her back pack. It looked puffed out. Most likely from school books. Way too much for her to carry on her own.

"I-I'm fine. I got I-It..." she said smiling. "These are filled with stuff for Vexen's class. He a-asked me to go get them...I'm heading there right now..." Just then the bell for class rang. Trinity nearly dropped the boxes she had in her arms. "O-oh, n-no. Can't talk Sora g-gotta go!" she took off running down the halls--boxes and all.

Sora stood quietly. "Trinity..."

"Huh? You know her Sora?" Riku asked, coming up from behind him.

"Yeah..." Sora replied. "We have met. I've been hanging out with her a bit."

"I saw her around here before too." Riku nodded. "She's always doing stuff like that."

Sora arched a brow. "Huh?"

"Always lifting heavier objects. Always busy. One of these days she's gonna make herself sick working so hard all the time. She always seems to overwork herself doing stuff for others." Riku crossed his arms, frowning. "Always trying to make others happy, even if she is suffering or sad. That's just the way she is."

"You mean...It's like she cares more for everyone else's well-being then her own..?"

"Yeah. That's right." Riku sighed, looking over at Sora to change the subject. "Sora...you uh...won't believe what happened to me last night."

"I won't?" Sora put his hands behind his head. "I dont know about that. So far, after all the crazy things that's happened to me...I think I'll believe just about anything."

"Well okay. I guess it can't hurt to tell." Riku smiled, as he began to tell Sora about the Heartless attack last night and the Keyblade too.

Little did both of them know just how big this would be.


	14. Chapter 14: Explanations

Hey, hey, hey! This is Link Ragnarok here~ Chapter 14 is finally up and running! Sorry for all you folks that have been reading this. It has been a while since I and DragonsAreFriends have updated Keys of Destiny so we do apologize for the delay~ Real life sucks sometimes, but without further ado...

Enjoy~

/A word on how the bells work to not be confused. There are three bells. Students are given six minutes to get to class. One bell rings at five minutes indicating you have one minute left to get to class. Then after that minute the bell for class to start will ring. After 10 minutes another bell will ring indicating the tardy bell. If you arrive after that bell, you are tardy to class and considered absent even if you are in there.

And for those of you who are wondering the points of view starts at Roxas then to Arya/Naminé/Trinity and finally Sora.

LONG CHAPTER! (Almost 10k words)

/Stops talking so you can enjoy the story!\

**Chapter 14: Explanations**

Seemingly to be impossible, there were now an account of five children having Keyblades. Those being Trinity, Arya, Sora, Roxas, and Riku. The arrival of Sora's, Roxas', and Riku's were all known, but how did Trinity and Arya come to gain theirs? And what's the exact purpose of them? The boys were starting to wonder that this was not just a coincidence and thought that perhaps they should talk to the two who might know more: Trinity and Arya. Arya has already been interrogated by Roxas and Sora about what she knows, but unfortunately it was little information.

Although...

Roxas, being how he thought about things, didn't think Arya was telling them everything she knew, and what was with the Keyblades having powers? Perhaps it time for some explanations... real ones.

-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-

Roxas ran through the hallways of the school with Axel right behind him. They were late, super late and didn't give a care if running was against the rules. Although they both had different classes right now, the classrooms were in the same general direction. If either of them missed this class, they would be in BIG trouble. That was something Roxas did not want to deal with.

The hallways were an eerie silent making the sound of their running echo. The bell for class had run about five minutes ago, and with where they had come from it had taken a good few minutes to just get where they were now. Roxas did not like how silent it was. It made him insecure that there could be a teacher just around the corner, and it would just be as likely there was.

Running out of breath, Roxas slowly came to a halt and leaned against a wall with one arm. Axel came next to him just as exhausted. Roxas glanced at Axel who gave him a "I'm sorry" smirk. Roxas shook his head at him, and then when his breath was back began to run again with Axel behind him. Their classrooms were right across from each other and on the other side of this hall. If they could just make it before the late bell rang they would be...

WHACK! Roxas, out of nowhere as he rounded a corner, ran right smack into someone making him fall backwards, and right into Axel who just happened to be right behind him! Both of them fell to the ground with an "oof" and groaned. Rubbing his head Roxas looked up to see who exactly who they ran into.

Roxas' eyes widen. The exact person he had NOT wanted to be seen by.

Xemnas, the Principal.

Grumbling, and wondering why Roxas wouldn't move, Axel pushed him off. "What are you staring-" Roxas quickly placed a hand over Axel's mouth and continued to stare up at Xemnas who was facing both of them with a cold stare on his face. Axel twitched when he finally noticed and swallowed hard.

"Well, well boys. Seems you are late..." Xemnas began as he walked over to the two and crossed his arms standing over them. "And it seems that with the..._impact_... you caused when you ran into me, you were running."

Roxas could only stare up at Xemnas the color drained from his face. Xemnas lifted an eyebrow at them then frowned greatly with a sigh.

"Out of all the students to be late, it is Roxas Strife and Axel Sinclair. Axel I expected, but not you Roxas..." Xemnas shook his head at them then glared. "Get up."

Roxas and Axel promptly got up and stood up straight and respectful to Xemnas. Xemnas nodded then gestured his head for them to follow as he began to walk. Giving a small groan, both of them followed after. They were in trouble alright and the late bell ran out just as they began to walk.

-oO0-o)

"Well that certainly could have gone better, eh Roxas?" It was now after school and Roxas and Axel were hanging out in the hallway next to the Principal's office. Xemnas gave them detention that would be after school, and the detention they got was to clean the hallways. It wasn't to start this week, as it was Friday, but starting next Monday they would be cleaning the hallways for one week.

Roxas glanced at Axel and nodded then sighed and leaned his head back. "This is partly your fault you know Axel..."

"Yeah... Sorry about that Roxas. I just had to know, and before we knew it it was way past the bell." Axel smiled sheepishly and copied Roxas. Roxas turned his head to the side and looked out the window. Soon his father and Axel's brother would come to pick them up. He cringed at the thought of what his father would do. This was the first time in all his school life he had gotten in trouble, and the first time he had gotten detention. His father would not be happy about that.

Closing his eyes, he thought back to what he and Axel had been talking about...

-oO0-o)Flashback.

"Whoa! Roxas, hold up!" Roxas peered around his locker as Axel came running up to. Class had just ended and Roxas was about to head to his next class.

"What is it Axel?" He asked as he closed his locker placing his book into his school bag.

"I gotta talk to you for a sec."

"What? Now Axel? Can't this wait till after school?"

"No! If I wait till then I'll forget!" Axel gave Roxas a desperate face. Roxas sighed.

"Fine, but be quick." Roxas said with a frown. Axel grinned at that and grabbed Roxas' arm and led him to an area what was quiet. Looking around Roxas leaned against a wall and lifted up an eyebrow. "So?"

"Alright. You know Arya right?" Axel was smirking. Roxas groaned. Anything that had to deal with Arya was bound to lead to trouble, especially if Axel was interested.

"Please, Axel, you didn't just pull me over here to ask me if I knew where Arya lived again, did you?"

Axel laughed and shook his head. "No way! I still can't figure it out, but I will. No, no this is different. I was wondering if you could... you know talk with Naminé and get her to convince Arya to meet me..." Axel scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed. "I'm no good with girls, and I haven't seen Arya around school even though I know she goes here."

Roxas blinked slowly at Axel. He knew Axel was interested in Arya, but... could it be he was actually _falling_ for her? Roxas gave a smirk and then laughed. Axel looked quickly at Roxas with a weird expression.

"What's that for? I didn't say anything funny, so what are you laughing at?" Axel's expression changed to a frown. Roxas cleared his throat and shook his head.

"Axel, seriously? I didn't expect you to really care for girl's much... especially to try and go after one to be your _girlfriend!_" Roxas grinned as a blush came to Axel's cheek.

Axel turned away and crossed his arms and mumbled, "well, no biggie. I mean, all the girls I've ever known freak out when it comes to my fire. Arya was the only one that seemed... well unaffected. I mean, even though she's been a little mean to me, I... I want to get to know her." He rubbed the back of his head looking more embarrassed than before.

Roxas smiled and came up to Axel and patted his back. Axel looked at him and smiled back. "Of course I'll help Axel! I'll talk to Naminé as soon as I can and see what we can do. If it'll make you feel better, cause knowing the way that Arya acts I doubt you'll get to meet her alone, I'll get Naminé to convince her if me and Nami can join for a picnic or something. Does that work?"

"HA! Roxas, man, you are the best!" Axel grabbed Roxas by the head grinning like a big idiot. Roxas struggled in his grip.

"Hey, no, Axel!" Both of them began laughing then suddenly stopped when they heard the bell ring. The bell for class to start not the one minute bell! Looking at each other with horror on their faces they turned and ran to get to class.

-oO0-o)Flashback end.

"Roxas!" Roxas blinked out of his memory and looked up to see his father looming over him. The color, yet again for the second time that day, drained from his face.

"D-Dad..." Cloud was frowning great at Roxas with his arms crossed. When the school called the home he had expected them to be telling him how Sora got in trouble, not Roxas. Roxas looked down with a very guilty expression on his face, ashamed that he had gotten into trouble.

Cloud sighed and patted Roxas' head then went into the Principal's office. Reno appeared through the doors giving Axel a glare and head in after Cloud. The door shut leaving Roxas and Axel alone again. Axel turned to Roxas and bit his lip hard.

"I'm screwed. Reno is gonna kill me later for this! He told me that if I ever got in trouble again I'd be cleaning the entire house... NOW that is messy!" Axel gave a slight laugh and Roxas laughed with him then Roxas reached over and patted Axel's shoulder.

"Hey, we're in this together! I've never gotten in trouble, so just think what MY punishment is gonna be." Axel laughed again and grinned at Roxas.

"Right!"

About half an hour later of waiting, Cloud and Reno came out of the Principal's office with Xemnas who was saying, "good, good. I'm glad that it will be settled, and as I have told you they will be the after school janitors for next week." Axel and Roxas cringed at that thought.

"Good, that'll teach them something useful!" Reno responded to Xemnas while giving Axel a glare. Axel sweat dropped and smiled sheepishly back.

"Well then," Xemnas started as he looked at Cloud and Reno, "that will be all. If there is any more problems I will call." And with that Xemnas bowed and went back into his office. Cloud and Reno sighed together then went over to Roxas and Axel and frowned at them.

"C'mon... Let's go Roxas. There's something we have to do today..." Cloud gestured for him to get up then started to walk. Roxas didn't like the sound of that, got up, and followed after his father. He took one glance back at Axel who only waved goodbye for Reno was getting on him. Sighing, he and his father left the office then the school building.

"Where's... Sora?" Roxas asked as he walked behind his father. Cloud glanced back at him and shrugged.

"I was called at work."

"Oh..." Roxas bit his lip. He didn't like it if he had to bother his father from work. They walked through Tram Common with silence. Roxas gripped his arm feeling that it was becoming quite an awkward silence. He didn't really notice where they were going, but his father seemed to be looking for a specific store in the marketplace, and when they finally stopped a frown came to his face. He didn't really know what this store was for, but he wasn't about to find out because out of the corner of his eye he saw a woman with black long hair and a girl around his age with brown hair walking towards them.

Roxas saw the girl's eyes brighten when she spotted him then frown as if in confusion. The black haired woman stopped right behind Cloud giving him a weird look. Roxas bit his lip, she looked scary. Cloud turned around as if he sensed she was there then his eyes widened.

"Zera?" Cloud blinked in great surprise. The woman, Zera, frowned then her own eyes widened.

"My god. If it isn't Cloud! How many years has it been?" A smile came to the woman's face as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Too long." Cloud gave her a smile then a light hug. Roxas blinked several times. He never saw his father this active with people. Roxas gaped at them as they started a conversation up, but then a light tap on his shoulder made him turn around to light brown eyes.

"AH!" He lightly jumped and blinked at the girl. She jumped when he yelled and placed a hand over here heart. "Er, hi there." He said to her placing a hand behind his head. She blinked at him then frowned even more.

"Hi..." Her response was bleak, as if Roxas had something to upset her.

"Um, is something wrong? Did I... upset you?" Roxas asked getting concerned placing his hands to his sides.

"Huh? Do... did you already forget...?" She asked with sadness in her voice.

"Does that mean I have done something to upset you?" Roxas started to panic. The girl stared at him getting even more confused then suddenly her eyes widened greatly and she blushed with embarrassment.

"Oh... my... god. I am so sorry! I... I thought you were someone else!" She said placing her hands up in defense. Roxas blinked at her then placed a hand up himself.

Understanding washed over him like a flood. "Whoa, it's fine! I actually get that a lot... Let me guess... you thought I was Sora?" The girl gasped and nodded quickly. "Heh, I'm actually his twin. I can see why you would get confused."

"H-his twin? Oh my god! Then I am even more sorry." Quickly she bowed then stood up straight. "My name is Trinity, I am very sorry for being such a nuisance."

"Not at all, Trinity." He bowed lightly to her and smiled. "I'm Roxas." He placed out his hand to Trinity, whom looked at it then lightly shook it. A light smile came to her face then a hand patted her head.

"Well looks like you've met Sora's twin. I had completely forgotten he had one." Zera grinned at Roxas and smiled. "He's much more mild, and has a calming personality unlike Sora. Much more handsome too." Roxas blushed at the comment then blinked thinking about something. He glanced up at Cloud who was smiling at him.

"Hey, Dad? How do you know her?" Roxas asked gesturing to Zera.

"Ah, I met Zera a while back when you were probably around 7 years old. We're old friends, that includes your mother." Cloud explained then looked at Zera and smiled. "It's nice to see you again Zera, and you Trinity. Good to see you so grown up." Trinity blushed at Cloud and gave him a small bow as if she didn't recognize Cloud.

"Indeed it was. When I saw that hair, I swear it was like looking at a blond Sora." Cloud laughed. "So I had to investigate. Well be as it was you, that is good. You and Aerith should visit sometime... And without further ado, we have business." Zera bowed to Cloud then walked off. Trinity waved shyly to Roxas and followed after.

Roxas smiled, his ruined day brought back to happiness. Then a hand plopped on his head and the gloom feeling returned. Slowly he looked up at his father who gave him an odd look then dropped an object into Roxas' hands.

Blinking, Roxas looked at he object then eyes widened in surprised. "A... Cell phone? What's this for, Dad?" He looked up at his father who gave a deeper frown.

"It's so I can keep track of you. Don't get me wrong, Roxas. I know you aren't trouble like Sora and today was probably just a small slip, but neither of you have cell phones and I can never contact either of you. I don't have enough money at the moment to get you both one, so I'm giving it to you since you're more responsible than Sora. Everything, my number and the house number, is recorded in there already." Roxas gave Cloud a weird expression.

"Wouldn't this usually be considered a reward... not punishment?"

"Well, usually, but having to clean the school is punishment enough. I had already had this planned out and today just made me decide to initiate it." Cloud patted Roxas' head then began to walk. "Now, let's get home."

Roxas smiled and looked at the cell phone, it was a 'katana' class. Very thin like the sword it was named after. Placing it in his pocket he followed after Cloud.

"Oh..." His father turned around to him. "If you do happen to get in trouble again like that at school... You're definitely in big trouble."

-oO0-o)

Roxas raced around the corner eyes concentrating on something. Why did it always seem like he was running everywhere? It was the next day, Saturday, and he had been out and about doing chores for his mother. Even though his father had told him he wasn't getting punishment for what he had done, he still had to do chores.

All the shopping had been done, and as he had been about to leave he saw someone he desperately wanted to talk to. And that was why he was racing through the marketplace.

"Naminé!" Roxas called out just as he caught up to the light blond girl. Naminé turned around and blinked at Roxas then smiled at him.

"Oh hello Roxas!" Roxas stopped in front of her and caught his breath before standing up straight and smiling back at her. Naminé's eyes glanced to the bags in his arms and she smiled even more. "Doing some shopping for your mother?"

"Yup! I... er kind of got in trouble at school, so this is my punishment. Do all the chores." Roxas rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Naminé sounded worried more than accusing. Roxas gestured for them to sit on the bench before he began to explain what happened.

"...And with that, he gave me a cell phone to keep track of us." Roxas leaned his head back after the explanation. "I don't really mind it, but Sora is gonna be happy if he find out about it!" He took out the cell phone and looked at it again.

"Axel seems to like getting you in trouble... oh and about what he asked, I can try to see if my sister will agree." Naminé looked at the cell phone as well smiling slowly. Roxas glanced at her with a smile. He had told her everything about what happened, even what he and Axel had talked about. He just couldn't lie or hide things from Naminé.

Naminé glanced up at him then gently took his cell phone and began to fuss with it. Roxas watched her with a raised eyebrow then a confused expression came to his face when the phone was given back to him.

"I placed my cell phone number in there! And my sister's so you could contact us if needed..." Roxas blinked at her in surprise then hugged Naminé. A blush appeared on her cheeks before she hugged her back.

"Thanks Nami. I really appreciate that! Oh, and stick to texting, cause if my dad found out I don't think he'd be too happy as it's supposed to be used for 'emergencies'." Naminé gave a face to that then smiled.

"Okay! Well since it seems to have gotten near lunch I'm going to head out." Lightly Naminé bent down and kissed Roxas' cheek. "See you later." She walked off leaving Roxas with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"...I got kissed." The expression turned to a stupid grin then Roxas gathered the bags and headed towards home.

-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-

"Er... did we really have to do this, Naminé?" Arya commented to her little sister while waiting for two certain boys to arrive at the train station. Naminé was sitting next to her on the bunches with a basket in her hand. She nodded and smiled.

"Yup! And c'mon, just give Axel a chance. You've been avoiding him on purpose, and that's not very nice."

"Mer."

Arya leaned back in the bench and stared at the ceiling. It was one week since Naminé had asked her if she, herself, Roxas, and Axel could go on a picnic. At first she had refused because she didn't want to see the Pyro-boy. Then their mother overheard their conversation and insisted that Arya do the picnic. She complained until both her mother and sister pointed out how much of a "loner" she was being, and needed fresh air.

"Tch...is being a loner a problem?" Arya mumbled under her breath. Naminé looked at her curiously, but didn't say anything.

Soon, after a few minutes, Axel and Roxas arrived both being dressed nicely in light sweaters as it was getting a bit chillier season. Naminé herself was in a hooded dress, while Arya wore a long sleeved dress that only reached to slightly above her knees. Cold weather didn't bother her like others.

Arya turned to the boys and saw Axel smile at her. She didn't return the gesture and only sighed getting up. "Well now that you're here, let's go." Grabbing Naminé's hand and getting her up to her feet, Arya walked over to the train and proceeded in. Axel and Roxas followed after and sat down then the train shut its doors and headed out.

-oO0-o)

"WHAT? You're kidding right..."

"No way, Arya! I'm being serious here. I actually lit my house on fire once."

Arya face palmed and hung her head. They were out in the grassy fields just outside of Twilight Town. Axel had just finished explaining to her how he had accidentally burnt his house to the ground when he was 10 years old. Besides being an idiot and trouble maker, she now thought of him as an accident creator. Looking up she glanced over at Roxas and Naminé who were completely enjoying themselves. A small smile came to her face. As she watched them, a small tinge of sadness crept to her heart, but she shook her head and ignored it.

"Something bothering you?" Arya heard Axel ask She looked up at him and shook her head.

"You know Axel..."

"Yeeees?"

"...Do... you know why you can control fire? It's a bit strange if you think about it, isn't it?" She had be curious about it for a long while, and thought it could be the affects of a Keyblade.

Axel blinked at her then looked at the ground. "I don't know. I've had this ability ever since I was a child. It's not like a keep a secret lighter among my clothes to trick people either. I can actually produce it at will."

"Oh...Then...er can I ask another question. Do you happen to have... some kind of weapon shaped like a key?" Axel blinked at Arya several times then shook his head. Arya sighed then gave a small smile to him. "Then never mind. Don't worry about what I just asked."

"Ooookay." Axel gave her a strange smile in return then leaned back on his hands staring up at the sky. Arya did the same, except laid on her back. It was quiet, except for the random giggles coming from Roxas and Naminé. Smiling, and feeling somewhat content for once, Arya closed her eyes.

Naminé giggled at Roxas as he made another goofy face. "You... you're really silly!"

"Heh, I try!" Roxas smiled at her making her smile and blush in return. Naminé then glanced at her sister and Axel with a smile still on her face. Roxas glanced in that direction as well. "They look quite content to be like that."

"...I'm glad. Sis is never really ever happy." Naminé's eyes saddened for a moment then she looked at Roxas who had an expression asking 'why'. "Oh, I don't really like talking about that, plus that's for her to say."

"Okay, I understand Naminé." Roxas rubbed her head then reached into the basket taking out a sandwich handing it to her then one for himself.

"Thank you, Roxas." Naminé politely began to munch on her food and looked across the grassy fields. Her hood was down and her hair flowed with the gently breeze. It felt nice to relax for once and not have so much worry on her mind. She also loved being with Roxas. He was a sweet, caring person, and respected her. Looking back at him she gave him a sweet smiling making him smile in return with some confusion.

It was a good day.

After a another hour or so, Axel suggested they play with the Frisbee he brought along. Arya told Axel she was going down and decided to have Roxas on her team leaving Naminé to be with Axel, which surprised her that her sister would do that.

'Perhaps this is a test.' Naminé thought to herself. Smiling, she had the Frisbee first, she threw the Frisbee out towards Arya who caught it then tossed it back high, but Axel caught it anyway. He threw it back just as high and thus began the Frisbee war.

After a bit, Arya looked as if she was going to throw to Axel, but when she threw it, it headed into Naminé's direction. Unfortunately, Naminé wasn't paying attention so when she turned her eyes widen. Just as she thought the Frisbee would hit her, Axel came out of nowhere and grabbed it. Blinking she looked up at Axel.

"You alright there, Naminé?" Axel asked with concern. Naminé slowly nodded then smiled. Roxas and Arya came up to the two and Arya patted Naminé on the head then looked to Axel giving him a genuine smile of hers.

"You pass, Pyro-boy." Arya strolled passed Axel pushing her arm against him as he went. Axel stared after her dumbly then smiled.

"I don't know what I did, but I like it." Naminé rolled her eyes.

'I knew it.' Looking at Roxas, she noticed he knew what Arya had been doing too. Arya must have told him because he didn't panic when the Frisbee had almost hit her. Going over to Roxas she suddenly hugged him. Naminé felt Roxas tense up then hug her back and they stayed like that until they heard Arya's voice drift towards them.

"Hey you two! Get anymore intimate and I'll have to separate you into corners!" At that the two separated instantly and blushed furiously at each other. Axel laughed at them and rubbed Roxas' head. "Now c'mon! I have things I want to do this Saturday, so let's head back." Axel winked at the two before racing after Arya.

Naminé smiled looking down shyly before grabbing the basket. Roxas rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment then looked around. Quickly, he grabbed Naminé's hand and walked with her in the direction Arya went. Naminé smiled even more looking up at the sky.

-oO0-o)

Arya danced on the rooftops of the town. She had just taken Naminé home after the picnic, and was now heading towards Tram Common. She wanted to see Trinity again, the girl she met that one time at the Clock Tower. She already knew where Trinity lived thanks to her mother's information, so she headed straight into the hole that led to the forest and the mansion just beyond.

As she entered, Arya looked around cautiously in case Heartless appear. They didn't usually frequent during the day, but it was possible. Not feeling any sense of danger she walked through the forest at a steady pace, and began to sing a light hum.

'It really is a nice day out, shame it can't always...' Her thoughts trailed as she felt something. That something came at her at a fast speed, and swinging her left hand out, with instance her Keyblade appeared, and she twirled stopping an attack.

A woman, whom she did not recognize, was holding a ring blade against her Keyblade. Narrowing eyes she gave a light growl. She also felt her skin crawl knowing exactly what was going to happen.

The woman's own eyes were narrowed then blinked in surprise. "My... god... Arya, is.. is that you?" Arya's eyes widened and she jumped back away from the woman, but still held her Keyblade up. Her skin settled down and the sensation vanished.

"You are?" Arya demanded. The woman stepped into the light placing away the ring blade.

"My name is Zera. I'm a friend of your mother's, Tifa." She placed her hands out to the side showing she meant no danger. Arya slowly stared at her then flicked her left hand making her Keyblade vanish and appear as a spider ring on her left index finger. She flex her fingers, which seemed just as dangerous as her Keyblade for her fingernails were sharply pointed like felines' claws. She pointed them slightly at Zera indicating she still was on the defensive.

"Well... if you say you know my mother then I have no choice but to believe you. Obviously you know my name so I have reason to state it." Arya crossed her arms after a moment of flexing her fingers. Zera frowned at her then shook her head.

"Sigh, such like your father..." Arya's eyes widen and she gripped herself.

"You...knew my father?" The woman nodded and Arya looked down at the ground. KNEW was a very good word, because her father was dead.

Seeing Arya in pain, Zera decided to change subjects. "Why have you come here?"

Blinking back memories Arya looked at Zera. "To visit Trinity. Do you know if she is at home?"

"Of course I do. She lives with me after all. Come this way, you're welcome." Zera began to walk and gently passed Arya. Arya placed on a relieved face, relaxed completely, and followed after Zera.

Upon entering the Mansion Arya saw Trinity. A smile came to her face and she walked up to her. Trinity looked surprise to see Arya, but smiled shyly in return.

"Hai, Trinity. Remember me?" Arya asked with a grin.

"Of course I do! Arya, I'm glad to see you." Trinity smiled became bigger. "Have.. have you come to visit me?"

"Yup! I wanted to see you again since I've only met you once, and school you're so busy."

"Heh, that makes me happy. I... was kind of feeling lonely today too..." Arya quickly hugged Trinity and lifted her into the air. "EEP!" Her eyes were wide and she blinked several times at the sudden contact.

"HA! Well if you're feeling lonely, I'll cheer you up!" Arya grinned again twirling Trinity a few times before placing Trinity down who looked a bit dizzy. Arya laughed at the expression on Trinity's face then patted Trinity's head. "Why don't you give me a tour of this place?"

"I... I would gladly if the world stopped spinning..." Trinity placed a hand on her head. Arya laughed again and smiled. After a few more moments Trinity stood up straight and smiled sheepishly then led Arya through the house.

Unlike the time Trinity led Sora around, with Arya she could show her almost everywhere except Zera's room. Zera seemed to like Arya and that made Trinity very happy. After a tour of the entire house, even the gardens, Trinity led Arya up to her room and entered. Arya blinked and smiled.

It was a beautiful room. Dark purple wallpaper laced the walls with small light blue star designs within. A dresser with a large oval shaped mirror laid on one side of the room with a writing desk next to it. The ground had a very large feathery, white rug that looked as soft as clouds. To the left of the entrance was a bookshelf with many assortment of books. At the far corner near the big window was a king sized purple and blue canopy bed that was right to the wall, and laying upon the bed against the wall was a great collection of stuffed animals.

Arya squealed slightly and ran forward jumping onto the bed. Trinity blinked in great surprised and watched Arya as she grabbed a kitten stuffed animal and began to rub against it. Laughing at the expression on Arya's face, she came over and sat on the bed.

"You look like a cat doing that!" Arya stopped and looked at Trinity then placed the animal down coughing in embarrassment with a small blush coming to her cheeks.

"Er... sorry. I like stuffed animals." Arya looked away, Trinity smiled and hugged Arya slightly.

"Heh! It's okay. It just surprised me when I saw you do that. You seemed different when I first met you." Arya laughed.

"Ha! That's because I'm usually a tomboy! I don't... heh usually act this girly except in front of Naminé or my mother, but... I feel safe around to act like that to you." Trinity smiled at that comment and picked up the kitten stuffed animal herself then giving a bigger smile she held it out to Arya.

"Here, I want you to have this." Arya blinked slowly then took it with a gentle smile.

"Thank you, Trinity... that means a lot to me." Arya looked at the kitten and hugged it. Trinity placed her hands behind her back, happy that Arya was happy. Silence soon followed, although not awkward, and they remained in the room in peace then Arya spoke again. "Hey Trinity... there's something I want to show you. It's... I-I trust you with this, so please don't tell anyone..." Trinity blinked as Arya got off the bed and faced opposite of her.

Arya closed her eyes and held the kitten close to her heart. She felt her skin tingle like it had in the forest then with a wince, cat like ears began to slowly grow out of her head. She heard Trinity gasp behind her, but continued to focus. When the ears were done, a tail began to slowly form out of the bottom of her spine coming from under her dress. Arya winced in pain again, but ignored it. Finally, she felt her skin settle and opened her eyes and slowly turned to Trinity. "So... what do you think?"

Trinity blinked several times then slowly got up and hugged Arya with great care and gentleness. Not expecting it, Arya tensed then immediately relaxed. She stared at Trinity then suddenly felt tears come to her eyes.

"It... seemed very painful. Was it?" Trinity's soft voice asked.

"...Yes... I... something happened to me as a child, and I've been like this every since I was 10." The tears on Arya's face drifted down her cheeks softly and slowly. Trinity looked up at Arya then hugged her again.

"You can always count on me Arya. For anything, for everything. I'll always be with you." Arya trembled at the words then began to cry with more force. Trinity held onto Arya and comforted her letting her cry.

Soon, it passed and they were on the bed again laughing and making a fuss. Arya kept her ears and tail out because Trinity seemed to love playing with them. There was a knock on the door, and without thinking Trinity said to enter. Arya didn't think upon it until the door open and Zera walked in with a gasp. Looking quickly over, she and Trinity froze.

"...Well. It seems I missed the transformation." Zera smiled at Arya then brought over a tray a food not seeming surprised at all. They blinked at her, confused.

"You... sound as if you knew." Arya asked.

"I do. Remember? I knew your family, so I knew how this came to be." Zera patted Arya's head then left the room. Arya stared after the door as it shut then smiled.

"Heh. Zera's nice when she isn't trying to kill you." Trinity sweat dropped at her comment then both laughed, which was interrupted by another knock on the door.

"Trin, it's Zera... The Strife Twins and Riku want to talk to you, so..." Arya's eyes widen and quickly she concentrated and her ears and tail disappeared into her body. Trinity checked Arya to make sure there weren't any thing left then said enter.

Zera opened the door and Sora, Roxas, and Riku entered the room with Zera watching them with narrowed eyes. Arya lifted up an eyebrow at them and spoke for Trinity.

"So, what are YOU boys doing here?" All three looked to Arya, surprised to see her.

"Er..." It was Riku who answered, "we can to ask about... the..." Riku glanced at Zera who gave him a glare saying 'I'm not leaving' then looked back to Trinity and Arya.

"You want to ask about the Keyblades, eh?" The boys looked shocked then looked to Zera who blinked the sighed.

"So do these three possess Keyblades as well?" Zera asked with a frown. Arya nodded. Zera sighed again.

Taking that as an understanding to be able to continue, Riku stepped forward. "We were hoping you actually knew more than what you told Sora and Roxas. Roxas believes you do." Arya saw Roxas' eyes widen at that comment hinting that he hadn't wanted Riku to say that.

"Well... I guess I can tell you more." She glanced at Trinity who gave a light smile then looked back at the boys, "but not without Naminé here, so what about tomorrow? Meet at the entrance to the train station at around one to two in the afternoon, and Trinity and I will explain everything that we could know to you." Arya included Trinity cause she figured Trinity must know something, be it little, because she had unlocked her Keyblade's power.

"What, Naminé too?" It was Roxas who voiced the concern. Arya rolled her eyes and pointed a finger at Roxas.

"My sister has always known, and I am not about to leave her out of it, understood?" Roxas nodded, but didn't look happy about it.

"Okay, that's fine. It's Sunday tomorrow, so I'm sure we can tell our parents we're going out with friends." Riku gave a bow. After a moment Zera cleared her throat and the boys looked to her.

"All finished?" They nodded and she gestured for them to leave. Trinity waved goodbye smiling at Sora who smiled back before the door was shut on them. Arya laid back against the pillow and stared at the ceiling.

"Five Keyblades...This is getting to be something dangerous..." Arya mumbled.

"Yes...And it seems like there might be more to come..." Trinity gazed out the window of her room.

"Why do you think that?" Arya asked glanced at Trinity.

"I... I don't know... I just feel it."

-oO0-o)

It was late and Arya and Trinity were at the front door of the mansion. They hugged each other and said their goodbyes. Arya turned around and began to walk back through the forest with a smile on her face. Trinity watched her go with a smile as well.

They had barely met, yet they were now the best of friends.

-oO0-o)0(o-0Oo-

The day Sora had been awaiting for awhile had finally came. It was the next day after visiting Trinity's house, and he was going to learn what those Keyblades were for! He was with his brother, and Riku who were boarding the train in front of him. Trinity, Arya, and Naminé were already on the train. He climbed aboard when it was his turn and sat next to Riku, and with all who were to be boarded the train took off.

"So..." Sora began when it was becoming an awkward silence, "where are we heading?" He looked to Arya who glanced at him.

"A place where we won't be disturbed by unwanted ears. I thought we would go to a grassy field that is near where I live." Nods to Roxas. "You were there, remember?"

Sora glanced at Roxas who blinked then eyes brighten. "Oh, right that! So... you live near there, I didn't see the house..."

"Yup and you wouldn't, it's more hidden... Tell Axel and I'll rip your voice box out." Roxas' eyes widened and Naminé made a face. Sora just laughed.

The conversation was light until they finally arrived where they wanted. Arya then took the lead with Naminé behind her. The group made it to the grassy fields and sat down in a large circle. Everyone looked to Arya and Trinity.

'This is it.' Thought Sora. 'I will get to know why I'm so special!' That thought made him grin.

"Alright, to begin with. Everyone, take out your Keyblades." All nodded and with flashes, swings of hands, and mumbles all Keyblades laid out before them. Arya leaned over all the Keyblades and began to examine them. "Tell me the names starting with yours Sora, and of the voice you heard."

"Er... alright. The woman said that mine was called Oathkeeper, the Keyblade of Hope." Arya nodded then looked to Roxas.

"She told me, Oblivion, the Keyblade of Power." Arya lifted up an eyebrow and glanced between Roxas and Sora. Sora frowned and wondered what she was thinking.

"What's with that look?" He asked her.

"Well I was trying to determine why you got a certain Keyblade, but I guess personalities isn't the reason... You two, if it went by personalities, are switched." Arya grinned shaking her head. Sora and Roxas looked at each other then frowned before giving a slight laugh.

She was right! Sora was more likely be related to called "oblivion", while Roxas would be more suited for something called "oathkeeper". Everyone rolled their eyes, and then Arya cleared her throat for silence and looked to Riku.

"This is Guardian Soul, the Keyblade of Protection." Arya nodded with a smile. Sora could see why. That name for the Keyblade definitely fit Riku. Arya glanced at Trinity.

"Ah... m-mine's Forget-Me-Not, the Keyblade of Life..." Trinity's voice was shy, it was obvious she wasn't used to so many people and Sora noticed how she kept close to Arya as if for protection.

'Odd...' Sora looked down slightly. 'I want Trinity to be able to lean on me for protection!' Then Sora looked at Arya as she began to speak.

"Mine is Eighth Step, the Keyblade of Entanglement."

"So each Keyblade has a different name, and I'm guessing it probably means different powers for each one?" Sora asked feeling confident with his conclusion. Arya blinked at him.

"Wow, guess you aren't completely stupid."

"HEY!"

"Oh, I'm kidding!" Arya gave him a playful smile then looked at her Keyblade. "As I told you and your brother a while back, Sora, each Keyblade does have a special power. Mine goes with it's name, and I'm going to take a wild guess that everyone else's does as well. Entanglement. It gives me the power to create webs."

"Oh, so your Keyblade shoots out spider webs?" Sora smiled, understanding.

"No. I shoot the webs, the Keyblade gives me the ability to do so."

"Oh..." Sora still understood, he just misunderstood the first time. "Er, well continue then, eheh..."

"I think Trinity's Keyblade has the power to heal, as you did use it on me before." Trinity nodded and smiled. "Riku's, I would assume has to do with some kind of barriers... Sora, yours and Roxas'? I don't know. The terms 'Hope' and 'Power' can mean many different things." They all understood now. There Keyblades had special powers, and they had to learn to take control of those powers.

"Arya? How do we unlock these powers?" Riku was the first to ask.

Arya turned to Riku then shook her head. "I don't exactly know. Mine was from a sudden endangerment, and the power just surged through me. How or when it will happen may depend."

"Aaw, man I wanted to beat up a lot of Heartless!" Sora frowned wishing he could know his power NOW. He saw Arya look at him with a serious expression. "Er... what?"

"That's something else we need to talk about. This is something serious, and dangerous. Do you all understand that you don't just have these Keyblades for fighting the Heartless, but for more?" Everyone looked at each other then back to Arya and nodded. "Then... we need to learn."

"Learn what?"

"Learn to be a tea-" She stopped in mid-sentence then slowly got up and looked around. Eyes widen ans she turned around and an all too familiar tumbling redhead rolled right into her. He fell over her pinning her to the ground by accident and looked completely dizzy. Everyone blinked slowly, Roxas was the first to groan and mumbled Axel's name. Arya formed a blush then twitched pushing Axel off. "WHAT IN BLAZES ARE YOU-"

"What didn't you invite me to this?" Axel said interrupting Arya sitting up straight with a hand on his head. Arya glared and mumbled something then pointed a finger at Axel accusingly.

"Because you don't own a Keyblade!"

"Doesn't matter! I still know about them! Naminé doesn't own one either, and she's here."

"Well...Doesn't matter! You don't belong here still!" Arya glared at Axel and Axel glared back. Sora looked between both of them feeling the tension he usually felt when him and Roxas were about to break into a fist fight. Not wanting that to happen Sora quickly got up and got in between them, and blinked as Trinity did the same at the same time.

"Hey, hey... let's just be calm about this, please? I mean Axel being here isn't so bad, is it Arya?" Sora smiled looking at Arya. Arya glared at Sora then looked away with a "humph". Sora then turned to Axel. "And Axel we would have told you, but we didn't know you knew about them." Axel gave Sora a look, glanced to Roxas, glared, and then looked away like Arya.

"Alright, fine." Both Arya and Axel stated at the same time. Sora and Trinity smiled at each other then sat down that it was resolved. Roxas leaned over to Sora and gave him a light tap on the head with his fist.

"OW! What was that for Roxas?" Sora glared at him then was surprised to see Roxas smiling.

"You handled that well." Roxas gave Sora another light bop making Sora grin this time.

"Heh. Thanks. Guess you rub off on me Mr. Calm and Collected." Roxas gave Sora a face then pushed him over laughing.

After a few moments, everything settled down and all was sitting again. Arya sighed greatly and looked at Axel.

"Well Pyro-boy, if you're going to be here then I guess you better help me out."

"Help you out with what?" He asked raising an eyebrow. Arya lifted up her Keyblade with a gleam in her eye.

"Training."

-oO0-o)

Sora fell to his butt, having been beaten for the fifth time by Arya. His Keyblade vanished as he felt completely drained. Arya tapped her Keyblade on her shoulder then swung her hand making it vanish.

"Well looks like you're done for today, don't you agree Axel?"

"Yup. He's completely drained." Sora glared at them while trying to catch his breath. Neither of them seemed exhausted even they fought him, Roxas, and Riku. Trinity had said she wanted to watch, and was kneeling next to Sora with a concerned look on her face.

"Are you okay, Sora?" She asked with her Keyblade over her knees. Sora looked to her and smiled.

"Perfect! Although I keep wondering how Arya and Axel can do this so well..." He breathed out and looked to the two again, who had caught word of what he said.

"Didn't I tell you before? You aren't used to this. Axel and I am. We trained more towards fighting, and my mother being one who deals with Martial Arts has taught me a lot." Arya waved Sora off. Sora blinked, eyes widening.

A woman teaching people how to fight? Now that seemed unlikely! Sora wanted to meet her, but if she was Arya's mother... that could be scary, and dangerous.

Getting up Sora stretched and then heard his stomach growl, a pathetic look crossed his facing making Trinity laugh. Arya sighed and rolled her eyes then looked to Naminé who brought over a basket bringing out a sandwich for Sora.

"Thanks." Sora grinned and began to munch on it happily. He watched as Naminé went over this Roxas and Riku in turn who had been resting like Sora. Eventually everyone had a some food and were sitting and chatting to each other. Sora looked around at everyone noting what they were doing.

His brother and Naminé were being all "close", which made him grin and think "blackmail!". Then he glanced over at Riku who was simply relaxing on the grass with his eyes closed. A sudden loud noise made him twist his head over to Arya and Axel who were fighting... Or er he thought they were. It looked more like a wrestling match, but Axel was on top and Arya didn't seem too pleased. Soon there was a slap and Axel got off with his face now being red.

Sudden steps to Sora's right made him look up to see Trinity come and sit next to him. That made him smile. He turned to her and smiled. "So how are you doing, Trinity?"

"Ah, I'm-I'm good." She responded shyly. "What about you? Do you feel better?"

"Much!" Sora patted his stomach. "Plus my stomach feels full and I'm ready for another session!"

"Hehe, that's good. I'm glad to hear that!" Trinity smiled sweetly making Sora blush some and turn away.

"HEY LOVEBIRDS." It was Arya. It made Sora and Trinity jump and blush and look towards her, but they relaxed when she was talking to Roxas and Naminé who were promptly separated and placed five feet away from each other. Sora and Trinity looked toward each other then laughed quietly. He heard Roxas groan, and Naminé protest, but Arya wouldn't have it. "Oh shush! Besides, it's getting late and I think everyone should head home."

That made Sora sad. He liked it here, especially since he finally got a chance to talk to Trinity. He sighed and slowly got up with her.

Clank.

They both began to walk towards the area where the trains were.

Clank.

Riku came up next to them and smiled stretching.

Clank.

Roxas sadly was alone, and came on Sora's other side looking disappointed.

Clank!

"WAIT STOP!" Sora, Trinity, Riku, and Roxas stopped abruptly at Arya's frightened voice. They looked back at her to notice she was looking right up the hill in front of them, and her Keyblade was out. Slowly, suddenly dreading what was in front of them, they turned and gasped loudly.

On top of the hill was a Heartless. It was large, larger than Sora had ever seen before. It looked roughly to be the size of a house. It was unlike any Heartless being as it was clad in purple armor. Though there was something strange about it. It was... _loose_ looking. Nothing was attached to each other and all the body parts, the arms, legs, torso, and head were floating! The only thing that seemed to be connected was the feet to the ground.

It raised a hand up with razor sharp claw fingers towards the four just below the hill then _shot_ its arm towards them! Unable to move then four stood there with fear.

CLANK! Arya was suddenly in front of them, twisted body as if she had just deflected something in a twirl attack, which she had. The arm went flying then flew back to the owner. Arya growled furiously and looked to the four behind her.

"Well just don't stand there like a couple of deer in the headlights! Get those Keyblades out already!" She rushed forward and up the hill towards the Heartless while shouting back. "AXEL! Keep Naminé safe!"

"Roger!" Sora heard Axel shout then shook his head and brought out his Keyblade, took a deep breath, and then followed Arya up the hill. That seemed to be sign for Riku and Roxas did the same and followed after Sora. Only Trinity, Sora noticed, stayed behind looking scared.

As Sora got up the hill, he noticed the Heartless throw it's arms and legs at Arya, but she quickly dodged and smalled down on one of the arms making it hiss loudly. Sora jumped up and slammed his Keyblade down on the Heartless' foot making it hiss again. It lifted its foot up making Sora rise up into the air. He fell off, but was caught by Riku. Both smirked by then their eyes widened as the foot ascended down on them. Roxas quickly came over and slashed the foot out of the way making it miss Sora and Riku. Riku placed Sora down and they all three prepared to attack again.

Suddenly the Heartless began smashing its feet around making Sora, Roxas, Riku, and Arya jump back. Not sure what it was doing, they held back.

"Oh no!" They heard Trinity yelp. Sora looked back to see that Shadow Heartless were crawling around. Trinity brought out her Keyblade and killed a few then was quickly overcome, but the quick actions of Axel's fire freed her.

"Trinity! Over here!" Sora shouted. He wanted her out of danger. Axel couldn't handle to keep Trinity AND Naminé safe at the same time. Trinity, at the sound of Sora's voice, came running up the hill with the Shadow Heartless on her tail.

Turning around Sora and Roxas came down on the Heartless at the same time with the same movements. Quickly they dispatched the Heartless as if dancing to music until Trinity was safe with them. They jumped back up and faced the Giant Heartless in front of them. It had stopped stomping its feet, but now it was heading towards them.

"Alright... listen up guys." Sora looked to Arya as he grabbed Trinity's hand. "We need to attack at once to finish this guy off. Axel and Trinity, keep the Shadow Heartless off our backs. Sora, Riku attack this big guy from the left. Roxas, you're with me on the right. Understood?" Everyone nodded. "Wait for my signal..."

The Giant Heartless crept closer and closer as did the Shadow Heartless then Arya raised up her right handle and shout out a series of webs stopping the Giant Heartless' feet from moving. "NOW!" Riku jumped to the left with Sora and attacked the foot, while Sora, using Riku as a step stool, jumped up and attacked the arm. Arya and Roxas were doing a similar attack, Arya using Roxas as a step stool. They all stroked at once destroying the legs and arms.

The torso floated in the air. With its legs and feet gone, it was completely helpless, but still able to move. Sora jumped back and turned helping Trinity with the Shadow Heartless that threatened to overrun them, but not before he saw Arya jump high into the air and strike down the Torso, slicing as she came down.

The Heartless hissed furiously in pain then fell to the ground and vanished into shadows. With it dead, the Shadow Heartless all vanished as well. Sora looked at Trinity and gave her a smile, she hugged him in return. He blushed then hugged her back.

Everyone was safe, and no one had been injured.

Suddenly Sora and Trinity fell to their knees, strength sapped. Roxas and Riku were in similar states, well Arya was breathing hard. They may have beaten the Heartless, but they were all completely exhausted.

Sora shook his head. He didn't care. It wasn't like anymore Heartless were going to-

HISSSSS! Sora looked up to see the Shadow Heartless returned. He cursed under his breath and lifted up his Keyblade, but suddenly it vanished. His eyes widened and noticed that Trinity's did as well. The same went with Roxas and Riku. Only Arya had he blade.

They _were_ exhausted. They had depleted their energy with training, and only ate a little with some rest to gain it back. It wasn't surprising that they couldn't fight anymore.

Sora glanced around with fear in his eyes then pulled Trinity close to himself when the Heartless attacked. His eyes closed tightly he waited for the strike that would end his life, but it never came. A sudden shaking of the ground jolted him to sit upright. He glanced around.

All the Heartless were gone. He looked to Arya to see if this was her doing. It wasn't, her Keyblade was gone too. Sora glanced to Axel, he looked surprised, so it wasn't his doing. Then if it wasn't theirs, whose was it?

"Arya... what's going on here?"


	15. Chapter 15: Limits

Chapter 15: Limits

Arya looked up at the sound of her name. Her eyes widened and she gasped at who it was.

There, standing at where the Shadow Heartless used to be, was a young looking woman with long pure black hair.

"Mother!" Arya shouted as she got up. "Er…" She looked around at everyone who blinked several times. The woman, ignoring Arya, went over to Naminé examined her before looking at Arya with eyes going to slits.

"Arya…"

"Ah! I'll explain, but can we get everyone home? We're all exhausted…" The woman looked around at everyone, and nodded quickly.

"Of course."

-O-o)-(0-o)-0

Everyone came back to a home that was beyond the grassy fields. It was actually sort of hard to find, as they had to climb over a big hill then look down to see a crater. In the crater was a giant forest and even from the highest point above the crater, you couldn't see a single home. They were very tall trees, and it seemed the crater was at least two miles across in each direction. The home was in the middle of the crater, a mile in. It would have taken a good hour with everyone exhausted to reach the home, but Arya and Naminé's mother had a vehicle that could carry several people, and she used that to get everyone there.

"Mind explaining what you were thinking now Arya?" The woman asked whom they learned was called Tifa Lockheart. She brought everyone into the house and seated them in the living room of her home.

Arya nodded and started to explain about how these children, Sora, Roxas, and Riku, had Keyblades like her and Trinity. Everyone was surprised that Arya would tell her mother about the Keyblades, but Tifa seemed to be unaffected about that except a small surprised expression that others had Keyblades.

She continued to explain about how she brought everyone to the grassy fields to train them how to use their Keyblades efficiently. What she didn't expect was to be out there so late and for the Heartless to appear.

"Ah, I see..." Tifa half chuckled in the end of Arya's explanation. "You guys just need to be more careful." She gave everyone around her a stern look. "Even with Keyblades, you have limits. Don't be forcing yourself into fights…"

"But it was not our fault!" Axel fumed. "Stupid tin man came after us this time! He was asking for it!"

Arya did the honors and smacked Axel in the back of the head. "You heard the lady! Knock it off, Pyro boy!"

"That goes double for you Arya." Tifa reminded her. "I know you can take care of yourself most of the time in a fight...but your sister cannot. " Arya bit her lip when she remembered Naminé had been in danger. Even though Axel had done well protecting her, it was her duty to protect her little sister.

"You're right..." Arya sighed. "I'll be more careful next time, even if I didn't think we'd be there till night. I shouldn't have brought her."

Satisfied with the answer, Tifa looked up at the clock. It was well past being late, almost getting close to the hours of midnight.

"Reno's gonna kill me..." Axel grumbled when the time was announced. "I should get going now."

"That's right you should." Arya rolled her eyes at Axel. "Would not want your older brother finding out where you were this whole time."

"Why do you have to be so sore at me?" Axel sighed.

"You best beware now," Arya said with a sudden smirk. "You officially know where I live...the insults at times come with knowing. Why are you stalking me?"

"I...I...Well..." Axel stuttered, not really sure he wanted to answer that, and 'stalking' seemed like such as strong word.

"Ah! I better call Dad!" Roxas gasped out of the blue as if he just realized the time it was. He grabbed his cell phone, began to dial Cloud's number, and moved away from the group to talk in peace. Sora watched his brother from the corner of his eye, noting very much so of Roxas' horrible pose while he made up an excuse for them being gone so long, and out so late.

After all, Roxas still had promised Sora that he would not mention any of this fighting or the Keyblades to their parents. That included lying which it pained Roxas to do, but in the end it made sense, Aerith and Cloud might be in more danger if they knew too much.

These Keyblades were something of great importance. And they were destined to have them.

Trinity was sitting in a corner not too far away; she seemed to be half dozing off, but yet still keeping watch over everyone in the room. Naminé came over a few times asking if she was alright, to which Trinity kept replying over and over: "I'm alright. Just a little tired, I'll be fine."

To the point of listening to that line over and over when Trinity was clearly not OK, Arya came over and picked her up off the floor and placed her on the couch. "Quit that." She said, but her voice to Trinity was still very soft and kind. "You're not alright. You're exhausted, and I'm not going to have you push yourself any further. Your body needs rest."

"Oh really I'll be fine." Trinity tried to protest, wobbly legs trying to arise from the couch. "Now I must be off for home, Zera will be very worried."

Silently but gently Arya pushed Trinity back on the couch again. "You're not going out this late at night. You'll stay here at least till morning. I'll call Zera and let her know, kay? No worries."

"So pushy Arya." Tifa shook her head, smiling a tad.

Trinity made a cute but sort of mad face, feeling helpless as it was, but the tired feeling drained all over her face at the same time. She just sat there in the end looking dumbfounded, for she knew she could not possibly take on Arya and the others just to escape. And Arya did have a point; she was her friend now after all.

Roxas came back in the room with a sour look that had Sora worried a bit. "Dad said we need to get home now, or else..."

"Or else what?" Sora gulped, not really wanting to know.

"Or else we're both gonna get it!" Roxas glared, crossing his arms. "What do you think Sora? I'm not getting grounded for this. And unless you want to also, you're coming home with me. Now."

"Alright, alright..." Sora sighed, packing up for the night and getting ready to leave with the others. Only taking a look back at Trinity to be sure she was gonna be alright. "See you later, Triny. Get some rest kay?" He told her gently.

"See you, Sora." Trinity smiled big, waving him goodbye. Arya could see a slight blush on both of the two's faces. Again rolling her eyes, of course this time with a smirk on her face, especially when Roxas turned back to say his goodbyes to Naminé as well.

"Ah, loves in the air everywhere!" Arya said aloud embarrassing the four to no end. Roxas quickly turned on a heel, grabbed Sora's arm and made a mad dash, blushing the whole way.

"Si-Sis!" Naminé said blushing hard trying to cover her face.

Arya laughed and gave Naminé a big hug from behind. "Aww, don't worry Nami. It's normal for your big sis to embarrass you a little bit. It's part of my job!"

Axel snickered some causing Arya to frown and snap her head in his direction. "You're still here?" She asked bluntly. Axel went running as fast as he could out the door. Arya shook her head a few times going for the phone to call Zera.

Riku too, went straight home. Lately something had been on his mind for a while now. He really wanted to go say hi to someone else, but of course he dared not. It was late and his brothers and parents would worry.

Or ground him. Whatever came first. He'd visit his friends in the morning or something.

Zera was working on something big or perhaps had been sleeping for when she answered she sounded sleeping. "Hello?" She said with a yawn as she answered almost on the last ring.

"Hey Zera, sorry to disturb you so late at night, but it's Arya." Arya grinned, sitting down alongside a still restless Trinity.

"Oh it's no trouble then..." Zera sighed. "Is Trinity with you still? Nothing wrong is it?"

"Nothing is at all wrong." Arya promised her. "Triny here has been working too hard. Is it okay if she spends the night with me? I promise I'll have her back first thing tomorrow afternoon or so."

"Yes, go ahead. Thanks for letting me know. Just be warned she'll try and be a bit sneaky. Make sure she gets lots of rest."

"Of course, Zera!" Arya laughed, rubbing Trinity's head in a playful manner.

Trinity just sat there too tired to fight back or anything. She giggled a bit in response to Arya.

"Take care of her for me." Zera said seriously. "And thank you."

The two hung up.

"Well, you heard your mom!" Arya says placing the phone away and tickling Trinity. "Now you have to listen to me!"

"OK! OK!" Trinity laughed, wiggling around some. Naminé came over too close and Arya jumped over and started tickling her dear sister. She had them both trapped, and needless to say they did not mind.

"Okay girls, time for bed." Tifa said, shaking her head. "Tomorrow's a busy day."

"Alright Mom." Naminé smiled hugging her sister and mom goodnight, and then headed up to her room. "Night Sis. Night Trinity." She called over her shoulder.

"Ye-Yes...goodnight." Trinity waved.

Arya gently took Trinity by the hand and started to lead her to the extra bedroom. "Come Trinity...you too."

-O-o)-(0-o)-0

"Axel you moron! What did I tell ya before?" Reno snapped, fuming already the moment his younger brother stepped through the door. "As long as Mom and Dad left me in charge while they live overseas you need to learn to be on time! Take a little reasonability!"

"You're one to talk! Remember all the times you skipped out on work or something!" Axel defended. "You still never hear me complaining as much as you!"

"Idiot! Of course!" Reno growled. "And if something ever happened to you I'm the one that's gonna hear about! And it WILL be my butt that gets fried!"

"Well sorry! At least I have something fun to do! Not a boring job like you!" Axel spat.

"My job's plenty fun!" Reno replied. "And it helps bring money home for food! Ever think about that?"

"Yeah, yeah...and a roof on my head!" Axel shrugged. "Same old speech from before, I know."

"Axel!" Reno huffed. Suddenly both brothers tackled one another. After a bit Reno finally managed to put Axel into a headlock then he laughed. "Ha! Now I have ya! You're doing those chores I talked about at the school now! Or else..."

"Ow!" Axel yelped. "Reno! Let go!"

"Not until you call 'uncle'!" Reno teased. "And swear to finish the dishes after you finish cleaning the house!"

"That better not include your room!" Axel snorted.

"Fine! Not my room!" Reno agreed.

"Uncle then!" Axel said quickly, Reno happily let go and started to back up. Just as quickly though Axel turned and grabbed Reno's ankles! "A monkey's uncle that is!" He said as Reno fell flat on his face. The two afterwards shared a playful battle, as brothers tend to do.

-O-o)-(0-o)-0

The moment Roxas and Sora got home Cloud was not all too happy. There was a limit to how much time the twins would be allowed to stay out after dark and when they could. At least thanks to Roxas' smooth talk things did not go as bad as they could have.

After a quick dinner the two headed for their rooms for bed.

"Sora I meant it...we have to work together. This just keeps getting more and more dangerous. And we really should tell Mom and Dad." Roxas said climbing into his bed and turning off the light.

"Not now." Sora replied sleepily. "We both just barely missed getting grounded. I don't want our Keyblades taken away even for a moment."

"Well maybe that would not be a risk if you did not keep them secret in the first place, klutz!"

Sora made a sour face. "Can we figure this out in the morning?"

"You always say that..." Roxas sighed believing that was truly Sora's answer for everything. Either way none of the two felt like arguing about it for one night. They had a lot to consider after today...

Although as they closed their eyes for the night they dreamed of the two lovely girls in their lives that they both adored whom were out there in the very same town somewhere...

...The thoughts of the training later, the Heartless, the destiny in which they were all given the Keyblades, the voices, the others that would very soon be given Keyblades of their own...and much more still hung in the air.

Everything would have to wait for another day.


End file.
